Homemade Ricotta and Asparagus, Ricotta, & Prosciutto Pizza

Today I made ricotta cheese! This is not something I would normally think of doing, but I'm housesitting for my parents and have a big, well-stocked kitchen at my disposal, so... decided to have some fun trying new things!



The ricotta was delicious, and it was SO EASY to make. I followed this ricotta recipe from eggsonsunday.com, which has very clear step-by-step instructions that I won't repeat here. I used 1% milk, and that turned out just fine. The hardest part for me was just stretching the cheesecloth over the collander. (Which is to say, it was all quite easy.)



I would definitely make ricotta again, rather than buy it. So quick and so yummy.

This evening I put some of the ricotta to use on a pizza, also inspired by a recipe from eggsonsunday. Made some slight changes, though - here's my pizza recipe:

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Asparagus, Ricotta, & Prosciutto Pizza

1 lb pizza dough (I buy dough in a bag from Trader Joe's)
1 T olive oil
salt
pepper
1 cup ricotta
1/4 cup mozzarella
6 spears asparagus
about 3 oz. of prosciutto

Preheat oven to 500 and put a pan in to heat. (Or use a pizza stone if you have one - I don't.)

Cut the asparagus into pieces about an inch or two long, steam the pieces for 2 minutes, and immediately put them in a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking.

Sprinkle cornmeal on a piece of parchment. Use your hands (coated with lots of flour) to spread the dough on the parchment. Sprinkle dough with a bit of olive oil, coarse salt and ground pepper. Scatter pieces of ricotta and mozzarella as a first layer, sprinkle on a little more salt and pepper, then top with asparagus and torn pieces of prosciutto. Transfer the pizza (on the parchment) to the hot baking sheet in the oven and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned.



I also made lemon curd this afternoon, which was fantastic, but that will have to wait for another post. :)