Paneer is a cooked cheese made using ricotta and ricotta is a curd cheese made using the solids that can be found in whey. After having made my own butter I attempted to make ricotta using the whey. I boiled up 190mls of the liquid and it resulted in 11g of ‘ricotta’. The yield could have been higher had I not let the whey boil over, and had I not skimmed off and discarded the first lot of the solids.
Ricotta is traditionally made from the whey leftover from cheese making and it should be firm, but not solid. When buying ricotta, make sure it is made from full cream milk and sold in a woven basket. For paneer the best is to find sheep’s milk ricotta (ricotta Romano), or ricotta infornata which is from Sicily. Do not buy ricotta salata for this recipe as it is a salted dried version resembling feta. Make sure your ricotta is not gritty, lumpy or wet otherwise your paneer will not work properly.
Paneer
Ingredients
- 300 g ricotta
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160° Celsius
- Place the ricotta onto a lined baking tray
- Press so that it is flat and about half a centimetre high
- Bake for 30 minutes
- Remove from the oven and set aside to cool
- Cut into cubes / battens
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
I finally made paneer which was part of the I Made It challenges!
What I blogged:
- three years ago – Lavender
- four years ago – Anchovy Butter
I’ve made ricotta numerous times, but haven’t tackled paneer in years. You’ve inspired me to get back to it. 🙂
With all your goats, it would be interesting to know if you can use their milk.
Waw, Tandy! Well done you! xxx MMMMM!
I love paneer! It is so versatile to use & so delicious too! x
It is very versatile 🙂
Cooked cheese… Heck yes. Love the look of your chicken dish, might replicate that for dinner. 🙂
The recipe will be on the blog soon 🙂
Lovely recipe, Tandy. I have never tried to make my own cheese. I will give your recipe a try and let you know how it tastes.
I look forward to your feedback Marcela 🙂
I LOVE paneer, but have never made it myself! Definitely a must try!
Let me know if you make it Joanne 🙂
I would love to say I’ve made ricotta, or even that I’ve purchased it from a woven basket! But I confess, the best I can do is a plastic tub and yes, it can be gritty, maybe this is why I haven’t been the biggest ricotta fan in the past?
The plastic part is not the problem, as long as the basket it is sitting in has a woven pattern. Hope you find some ricotta you like Laura 🙂
Hi Tandy, I have been wanting to tackle cheese making a while now, you have inspired me to go for it. Thanks!
Good luck!
They have just made some fabulous ricotta at work and paneer so expensive here that I am definitely going to make this very soon.
Let me know how it works out Rachel 🙂
excellent! this is great
Thank you for the visit Kelsey 🙂
How clever! I didn’t realise that you could make paneer from ricotta!! Genius 😀
It is so easy!
I’ve never heard of Paneer before. Which is why I love visiting your blog, I always learn something new. Thanks for this lesson today Tandy :).
Kay of Pure & Complex
http://www.purecomplex.com
Thanks for the lovely comment Kay 🙂
I’ve never made paneer – it sounds tasty.
It is not really that tasty, it is what you put with it that helps 🙂
You are so brave Tandy, to make your own butter and this heavenly paneer! Now we are intrigued by your simple recipe for paneer, which we love by the way. Hope to find ricotta Romano 🙂
Hope you find it as well 🙂
YUM! What a cool recipe!! 🙂 Great job!!
Thanks Cailee 🙂
Love cheese and always keen to learn making several types. Thanks, Tandy!!
Julie & Alesah
Gourmet Getaways xx
My pleasure 🙂