Soft Cheese is so easy to make and so fresh and delicious. It’s a simple process that needs only two ingredients and creates a cheese that you can use straight away as a spread on bread or crackers. It is also ideal as an ingredient in recipes.
When I posted a photo this homemade soft cheese on social media, someone described it as alchemy and, in a way, it is.
One of the definitions of alchemy is: “a seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination” and making soft cheese is a transformation of liquid milk into solid cheese.
The good news is that making soft cheese at home is really simple especially if you use the Lekue Cheese Maker. There are no moving parts, it’s simply a perfectly-sized bowl with it’s own strainer to let the whey run off the cheese.
The Lekue Cheese Maker usually costs £19.90, however it is currently on sale at £15.92 at the Lekue online store. While it’s not essential for making the soft cheese, it certainly makes it a lot easier.
Cheese making is not the only alchemy in my kitchen, I’ve also been using my Optimum P200 Dehydrator to dehydrate tomatoes and make ‘sun-dried’ tomatoes in olive oil.
Making the ‘sun’ dried tomatoes in the dehydrator is really easy. This is the time of year when you can get really good ripe tomatoes more cheaply and we were really impressed by the concentrated tomato flavour.
I sliced the tomatoes so they would dry more quickly, but if you are prepared to wait you can dehydrate quarters or halves, or little grape tomatoes. Timing is variable depending on the tomatoes, I ran my dehydrator for 12 hours at 57C. I then packed the dried tomatoes into a jar with some whole peeled cloves of garlic and fresh basil leaves and filled the jar with oil.
Make Sun Dried Tomatoes in your Air Fryer
If you don’t have a dedicated dehydrator then you can dehydrate tomatoes in your Air Fryer. Find out more in this comprehensive post Air Fryer Sun Dried Tomatoes.
I left the jar for about two weeks before opening and the result is totally delicious. The oil takes on the tomato, garlic and basil flavour making it ideal to brush onto olive bread then toast to make the bruschetta base.
Then I simply topped the bread with cubes of homemade soft cheese, the slices of dried tomatoes, a little fresh basil and then drizzled it all with more of the oil from the jar, it was just gorgeous.
UPDATE
Note and Disclaimer (viz a viz Clostridium Botulinum)
It’s vital when you cure vegetables in olive oil that you thoroughly clean the jar itself as well as all the ingredients and utensils used in the preparation. My friend at Christina’s Cucina tells me her family have been curing and pickling vegetables for many years without any health issues. However, many food safety authorities advise against preserving tomatoes and garlic in oil due the risk of bacterial contamination and proliferation of spores, especially clostridium botulinum, which could be fatal.
I will still be making small quantities but eating within a few days.
My Optimum P200 Dehydrator has been put to good use recently, with rose petals and herbs from my garden filling the trays. Again the time for dehydration varies, the rose petals took around 6 hours, the rosemary which has quite a fleshy leaf took around 14 hours.
Soft Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 litre (1 litre) milk
- 2 tablespoon (2 tablespoon) lemon juice or 1 tbsp + 1 tsp vinegar
Instructions
- To make the cheese there are two options, the first is to add lemon or vinegar to the milk, the other is to add natural yogurt.
- Heat the mixture in the microwave 12-14 minutes at 800W (90C/194F) and the milk separates.
- Leave the mixture to cool for 30 minutes then add salt or sugar to taste and pour into the strainer letting the whey drain away.
- Put the strainer back into the bowl and refrigerate for at least an hour, then you can turn the cheese out onto a plate.
Notes
Nutrition
Disclosure: Froothie UK sent me the Optimum P200 Dehyrator to use and review at home. I have not been paid for this post and was not required to give the Optimum P200 Dehydrator a positive write up. All opinions are my own. Affiliate links included in this post and if you buy the dehydrator via the link I will receive a small payment, but the product will not cost you any more.
Karen says
YES! I love the word alchemy and often use it when I make jam – that moment when soft fruit melds with sugar to become a jammy, pan of deliciousness! I received my cheese maker last week, so this post will provide me with lots of lovely tips and ideas!
I only wish I had a dehydrator too, but maybe I may treat myself to one this Christmas!
I LOVE the look of all the recipes in this post, all very summery!
Karen
Janice Pattie says
Thank you, I guess cooking is chemistry so not so far off alchemy, enjoy your cheese maker, look forward to seeing what you make.
Christina | Christina's Cucina says
Homemade cheese is one of the best things EVER! I feel sorry for those who have never had the pleasure of tasting it! My mother made it all the time when I was growing up, and I loved the ricotta that came out afterwards AND the whey at the end! I hope this entices people to try making cheese themselves, it is very easy!
Janice Pattie says
How fortunate you were Christina. My mother made a lot of things, but not homemade cheese! I’ve made cheese in varying ways in the past but I don’t think it ever tasted as good as this method.
Emma @ Supper in the suburbs says
I am so impressed with this. Is there anything more satisfying than making tasty food from scratch. Love that you’ve made your own soft cheese and the tomatoes for thus bruschetta! I need to invite mine round to yours for lunch clearly :-p
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Emma, you would be very welcome, just don’t come on a Friday night because then it tends to be pizza straight from the box!!!
Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours says
I love making cheese, it is always so delicious and it is so satisfying. The LeKue mould looks as if it makes the entire process far easier, you can use a cheese cloth but it is so fiddly.
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Helen, yes it certainly does make it easier.
Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy says
I honestly didn’t think that it would be this easy to make my own cheese, but I definitely need to give it a try, as we are cheese obsessed.
Janice Pattie says
It’s amazing how easy it is Dannii, look forward to seeing what you make.
Keep Calm and Fanny On says
I’ve seen this kit in stores and swineherd, think I’ll go back and give it a whirl. I’ve made cheese before and loved it, just wish we could get our hands on some really decent milk to make it! Thanks…
Janice Pattie says
The kit does make it easy but you could try without with muslin in a sieve and see how you get on. I added a bit of double cream to my milk to boost it up a bit.
Choclette says
Oh I don’t know where to start with this post Janice. I love it. I haven’t made cheese for ages, mostly because it’s a bit fiddly, so I’m very envious of the Lekue mould – what a brilliant idea. It also turns it out into something a bit more attractive than what you get from a cheese cloth. The tomatoes sound fab too and the whole bruschetta thing sounds too delicious for words. Great post.
Janice Pattie says
Thank you Choclette, I found it great fun to make both the cheese and tomatoes. I think this type of recipe takes me back to the root of my love of cooking, simple pleasures.
M M says
re those yummy tomatoes in olive oil, how long would in the fridge?
Janice Pattie says
I wouldn’t keep the, more than a week to ten days. The oil will solidify in the fridge but will soon return to liquid at room temperature.
M M says
thank you
Laura Boccauw says
I bought the cheese maker today and used 1 litre fresh milk, heated this for 14 minutes in the microwave, added the lemonjuice and let it cool down for 30 minutes… However there was no cheese left. It was all hond with the whey in the sink… Would it help if i added the lemonjuice before microwaving? Thanks
Janice Pattie says
Sorry to hear that Laura. I followed the instructions that came with the cheese maker and it worked okay for me. I know this happened to a friend of mine, she tried again and it worked okay. It needs to be whole milk not semi-skimmed for best results. There’s also the yogurt option instead of lemon which could be worth a try. If you have any more problems I would suggest you contact Lekue directly. Good luck with your cheese making.