Homemade Ricotta and Brown Butter Ricotta Dip

A few months ago I went out to dinner with a friend to a lovely little messo-Israeli restaurant called Miss Ada in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The menu included a gorgeous array of colorful dips as appetizers. We shared three but one really stood out as a complete showstopper. The whipped ricotta. This bowl was a true journey of flavors and textures. Smooth and creamy lead into rich and fatty, to sweet and salty and finished earthy. A truly combination that I recreated recently for a party. 

I promise if you serve this at a party people will lose their minds over it! 

Ricotta Cheese

The ricotta making method from Serious Eats is pretty easy. It helps if you read the entire post before buying ingredients and starting the process. 

I have found that the lemons in the grocery stores do not necessarily have enough acid content to produce the correct coagulation effect. I toyed with this a bit until I found that plain distilled white vinegar was the best method to get luscious ricotta. However, I do like the pinch of brightness that lemon adds to the flavor of the finished cheese so I have included that in the recipe. 

I have only made this cheese with whole grass milk purchased it at whole foods. This milk is pasteurized at a lower temperature. This process retains the enzymes to create a beautifully creamy ricotta. I haven’t tried using any other type of milk, but the higher quality the milk, the better your result will be. 

Brown Butter Ricotta Dip

Appetizer portion for 2-6 people. Serve with pita or freshly sliced pieces of French baguette. 

Notes on Ricotta Dip Ingredients:

Don’t use shitty honey. Spring for the good stuff. You don’t have to spend a fortune on Manuka (side note, am I the only one who can’t say the word manuka without thinking of that one episode of Broad City?) or anything like that but you can do much better than stuff that comes in a bear. Call me snooty, but it’s important that the honey has a good flavor and not an sickeningly sweet flavor. 

For the butter, use as best of quality butter that you can afford. It should be unsalted. 

If you don’t have maldon/flakey sea salt, diamond crystal kosher salt will do. Start off with a light sprinkle, give it a taste to see if you need more. The maldon really is preferred however, because it adds a tiny crunch that creates a beautiful contrast of textures. 

Equipment:

Medium stainless steel skillet

Food processor or blender

Fine mesh sieve 

Citrus reamer 

Chefs knife

Cutting board 

Recipe:

1 cup fresh Ricotta

Juice of half to a whole lemon, depending on taste (optional)

1 tbsp milk (optional)

1 stick unsalted butter 

2-3 tablespoons good quality honey 

4-5 leaves fresh sage, chopped finely

Flakey sea salt

Blitz fresh ricotta in a food processor or blender with the juice of half a lemon, more if you want more tang. If the ricotta is especially thick you can thin it out with up to one tablespoon of milk or cream.

In a stainless steel skillet, melt the butter over medium low heat until butter sputters, settles and milk fats sink to the bottom of the pan. This should only take a few minutes. Keep a close watch on your butter to be sure it doesn’t burn. Use your nose! The butter will start to smell nutty when it has properly browned. Let cool in pan for a minute or so, then strain through sieve into separate cup or bowl. 

Assemble 

Spread ricotta into a small serving bowl, top with the brown butter, honey. Swirl gently to meld flavors but do not mix together entirely. Sprinkle salt and sage to finish. Serve with bread. 

Make ahead:

Whip the ricotta, brown the butter, chop the sage. Keep all items in separate containers. Brown butter can be melted over low heat on the stove or by heating in a microwave in 20 second intervals. 

Enjoy!