Fresh Ricotta and Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Rolls (with the whey!)

Fresh Ricotta and Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Rolls

Fresh Ricotta (or Paneer) cheese is so easy to make. The challenge is to find a good use for the leftover whey. About a year ago I started to use the whey for making bread and it is now a routine. The whey is not a "leftover" any more, but part of the process since I generally make them at the same time. Sometimes we save the ricotta for pizza, pasta or kale paneer, and sometimes we smear it on the freshly baked rolls and call it a meal. Either way, it is a delicious way to spend an afternoon. The bread recipe makes enough to last us for two weeks if we pop most of it into the freezer right away.

Start with the cheese:

Ricotta (or Paneer)

1/2 gallon whole milk- (non-homogenized if you can get it)
1 cup plain yogurt (optional, but adds flavour)
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tsp salt

Make Your Own String Cheese!

Homemade String Cheese

String Cheese is fun to make, and the boys will drop everything for a piece. In the final stage of melting the curd, I stretch it like taffy, fold it, and stretch it again to make long fibers that pull apart just like the string cheese from the store. It is not supposed to be aged like cheddar, so if it gets devoured before it completely cools that is a good thing. Bread Making Day often starts like this because the leftover whey makes excellent bread.