The Palace's ricotta recipe

CINCINNATI - Restaurant week is Aug. 6-12.  The Palace's Executive Chef Jose Salazar shared his ricotta recipe on 9 News at Noon.

Ricotta:

1 quart whole milk

1 cup buttermilk

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Zest of 2 lemons

Sea salt to taste

Method: (You will need a thermometer).

Place the milk and buttermilk in a 4 quart, non-reactive, heavy bottom sauce pot.

Place the milks on a very low flame and stir occasionally to keep it from scorching, and slowly bring it up to about 175 degrees. At this point the curds will have begun to form (do not stir anymore or you will break the curds)

Pull the pot off the flame and allow the curds to continue to set for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile set up a large colander and line it with cheese cloth. Gently ladle the ricotta into the colander.

Place the cheese in the refrigerator and allow it to drain and cool (about 2 hours).

Next, place the ricotta into a mixing bowl (reserve the whey).

Wisk in the olive oil, lemon zest and salt.

You can adjust the consistency of the cheese by re-incorporating the whey to make it a bit looser.

Serve the ricotta with grilled country bread, honey and any seasonal fruit of your choice.