We celebrated the end of the year this past week at our Studio Night Market + Holiday Party — and we did so with a fabulous seasonal spread. The favorite dish of the night was our homemade ricotta two ways. We had a sweet ricotta topped with honey, black cherries, and pistachio and a savory topped with green castelvetrano olives, lemon oil, capers, and almonds. By popular demand, here is the recipe for the two dishes along with a little holiday graze inspo. Hope you have a very merry holiday filled with good food and lots of cheese!

Ricotta

Ingredients

1 gallon whole milk (cannot be UHT or ultra-pasteurised as curds will not separate from the whey)

1 quart heavy cream

1 tsp salt

8 tbsp (1/2 cup) lemon juice or white vinegar.

Directions

Add milk, cream and salt to pot over medium heat. Stir occasionally so the milk doesn’t scald on the bottom of the pot. Small bubbles are ok, but if it starts to boil, reduce heat. Monitor the temperature with a food thermometer as it warms.

When temp reaches 186, turn heat down to low or if using an electric stove, turn off the heat. Add lemon juice (or vinegar) and gently stir mixture for 1 to 2 minutes.

Cover, remove from heat and let sit undisturbed for 20 minutes.

Strain curds into cheesecloth lined colander and let drain for anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of hours. The longer you drain the curds, the thicker they will become. Once the cheese has reached your ideal consistency, transfer into an airtight container and refrigerate.

For the Sweet

Black Cherry, Honey & Pistachio Ricotta

10 -15 black cherries, pitted

1 tbsp of chopped pistachios

Honey

1 - 2 tsp white balsamic vinegar

Salt + Pepper

directions

Once the ricotta has cooled and is ready to serve, put 1- 2 cups in the serving bowl and mix in white balsamic vinegar. I say 1-2 tsp, depending on the amount of ricotta you would like to serve. Add 1 tsp of honey to sweeten and a pinch of salt. Taste ricotta. Top with chopped cherries, pistachios, as much honey as yo would like, and salt and pepper. Truly, season it to your taste. If you would like it to be very sweet add more honey.

For the Savory…

Green Castelvetrano olive, Caper & Lemon Ricotta

10-15 chopped green Castelvetrano olives

1/2 tbsp capers

1/2 fresh lemon juice

2 tsp lemon olive oil

1 tbsp chopped blanched skinned almonds

1 - 2 tsp white balsamic vinegar

Salt + Pepper

directions

Once the ricotta has cooled and is ready to serve, put 1- 2 cups in the serving bowl and mix in white balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, 1 tsp of lemon olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. I say 1-2 tsp of vinegar, depending on the amount of ricotta you would like to serve. Top with the chopped olives, capers and almonds. Drizzle lemon olive oil and top with salt and pepper.

Served with toasted baguette.