Homemade Parmesan Cheese
Description
Perfect for the table and with drinks. If you have your own farm, plenty of milk, and you enjoy making cheese at home, I suggest you use this recipe and make Parmesan cheese at home. Of course, it will not be the famous Italian Parmesan, since the conditions in its homeland are quite different, but what stops us from trying? So, here is how to make Parmesan cheese at home. 1. For the cheese we need milk from which the cream has been removed. Heat the milk to 30 degrees and pour in diluted rennet starter. Leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes to curdle. 2. When the milk has soured, stir the curd in the whey, add a little saffron for color, and begin heating the mass to 45–50 degrees over low heat. Stir constantly. 3. Separate the resulting curd from the whey—strain through a colander lined with cheesecloth. 4. After about an hour, when most of the whey has drained off, place the future cheese in the cheesecloth into a mold and put a small weight on top. After half an hour, double the weight. Press under weight for almost 24 hours. Turn the cheese over periodically. 5. Proceed to salting the cheese. Salt the cheese on all sides and leave it in the mold; the process takes about 20 days. During this time, the cheese must be turned over. 6. After the cheese has been salted, it is scraped, rinsed with hot whey, then rubbed with vegetable oil and set to mature. The cheese matures for 2 to 5 years, depending on the owners’ patience. During maturing, the cheese is periodically coated with oil. Serve with greens and sauce.