Ask Evan: Can You Make Ricotta with Powdered Milk?

Every week I answer a question from a Good Food listener. You can email me a question to goodfood@kcrw.com, leave one on Facebook or add one in the comments section here. This week’s came from Jesus:

I used to make my own ricotta when I lived in Atlanta GA but recently moved to Panama City Panama. Over here there is no organic non UHT milk and the dairy farms are hours away. I had read that you can use powdered milk but I’ve had not success with that approach.

The trick is to find whole milk powder which will give you a richer product. You can make it from the more widely available non-fat milk powder but the result will be leaner, less rich. If you are using non-fat milk powder you can opt to add a few tablespoons of butter to the reconstituted milk as it heats.