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Yum!

ditto!

so a lot like a ricotta - at least til you drain it?

is this the same as paneer?

So, question: How is this different than homemade ricotta?

(Aside from the pressing/shaping part.)

what do you do with the whey? can it be used for something else instead of thrown away?

@stink: I've used the whey in bread making and boiling pasta. When that's not practical, I feed some to the cats and dump the rest on my compost pile. Some people drink it, but I can't say I'm a fan. I haven't had much luck in using it to make more cheese, unfortunately.

@ dana: It's a very similar process to making ricotta. See more on that here:
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/diy-recipe/recipe-diy-ricotta-023326
The curds of ricotta are more gently handled, resulting in a more delicate, wetter cheese. It's a lot softer, more spreadable, and creamier, too. You can make ricotta using whey or milk. Traditionally, though, you'd make it with whey.

@lnwn: It is indeed quite similar-- if not totally the same-- as Indian paneer. From what I can tell, they're both pressed, fresh cheeses... with different names to designate their origin. Anyone else have insight on the difference between the two?

It's totally just like paneer! I prefer to make my paneer with lemon juice, though. :)

You could use the whey to lacto-ferment pickles.

http://dustbathladies.blogspot.com

This is how i make my paneer (with lemon juice, like Kaete).

Has anyone used goat milk? I need to try this because of a cow's milk allergy thingy. Thanks. So timely! I was just looking for a course to take on cheese making.

In peru they add a lot more salt to the queso fresco and eat it with corn on the cob- yum!

Dana -
I'm guessing it is the difference in acid? Ricotta uses lemon juice, this recipe uses white vinegar. I could be completely wrong though.

It was my understanding that ricotta is made with whey that you have extracted from something else, like, say mozzarella making. Hence a name that means 'recooked.'

I find it melts just fine and I use it on homemade pizza all the time (but I may not be squeezing out as much liquid as this recipe).

I use whey in soup, esp. vegetable soups. It's delicious--it adds a certain something. Try it!

Made this the other night with a cabbage salad with a raisin vinaigrette and pintos and tortillas. Delicious and easy, but definitely needed quite a bit of vinegar to come together.

@stink: A lot of Iranian recipes use whey, by the way, to flavor them (since they make a lot of yogurt, this makes sense). I've seen an eggplant dip with 1/2 c. of whey mixed in (to 3 eggplants, onion, olive oil, garlic, herbs). They also make a whey soup (Kalleh jush) with sauteed onions and garlic, olive oil, turmeric, mint, whey, salt and pepper, and ground walnuts; and a soup called Ash-e Lakhshakh that has the same ingredients, minus the walnuts and plus flat noodles and spinach.

Genuine ricotta is made from the whey of hard cheeses, a somewhat different process from the fresh cheese you see illustrated here. But yes, this will work with goat cheese for sure. Did you see Lisa making fresh (goat) cheese with Martha Stewart last week? Just avoid ultra-pasteurized cow milk. As for yogurt, it does not produce whey unless you drain it additionally for a thicker, "Greek"-style product.