The cost of store-bought, real cream cheese reaches several hundred rubles. At the same time, the composition may contain unknown ingredients of questionable quality.
If you have ever wondered about making cheese at home, then today’s article is for you. The product cooked according to the recipe given below is no worse than the expensive store-bought one.
Let's prepare two options: the first one is with dried tomatoes, basil and garlic. The second one is with thyme, fresh garlic cloves and coriander.
Ingredients:
- 800 ml. kefir 2.5%;
- 1 tsp salt.
For filling:
- 150 ml. odorless vegetable oil;
- 1/2 tsp. dried tomatoes;
- 1/2 tsp. basilica;
- 1/2 tsp. garlic
Prepare salty, creamy kefir cheese:
We will make cheese from kefir, but if you wish, you can use natural yogurt without additives. Fill a large saucepan with about 1/2 of the water, place it on the stove and cover with a lid. After the water boils, reduce the heat on the stove to medium. Place a smaller enamel container in the pan.
It is important that the bottom of the small pan does not touch the water! Pour kefir or yogurt into it. Add salt and quickly stir the contents. Simmer the kefir in a water bath for 30 minutes and stir occasionally. During this time, excess acid will be released from kefir, and the cheese will turn out delicious.
After half an hour, remove the pan from the stove and strain the kefir through gauze folded in several layers. The whey will easily separate from the dense mass. Do not rush to pour out the liquid part - it makes delicious pancakes or pancakes.
Hang the gauze with kefir flakes on the kitchen faucet so that the remaining liquid can drain. Leave in this position for at least 5 hours. The consistency of kefir will change: it will become denser, but at the same time tender and crumbly. From 800 ml. You will get exactly 200 grams of kefir. cheese.
Now prepare the filling. In a glass jar, combine oil, garlic, basil and dried tomatoes. Stir the ingredients until smooth. You can use other spices if you wish.
Roll the resulting curd mass into balls the size of a walnut. Drop one ball at a time into a jar of filling.
You can store cream cheese this way in the refrigerator for up to 2-3 weeks. At the same time, its taste only gets better. But if you do it without filling, then it should be stored for no more than 1-2 days.
Cheese made from kefir will complement any vegetable salad. Watch a detailed video on how to make balls using just one ingredient.
