Making ricotta at home is surprisingly easy; it takes a little time but is definitely worth it, especially when served with a delicious seasonal salad.
For the ricotta, place the milk, cream, thyme, rosemary and garlic in a medium saucepan and heat through to infuse the milk. Pass through a fine sieve.
Place back on the heat in a new saucepan and season with salt. Bring to a simmer and add the lemon juice. Do not whisk. The milk infusion will split on its own. Remove from the heat, set aside for 30 minutes.
Place a sieve over a large bowl and line with muslin. Pour the split milk mixture into the sieve and place in the fridge for 6 hours. Discard the whey and place the curd in the fridge.
For the broad bean salad, heat a large saucepan of boiling water and season with salt. Blanch the peas, broad beans and asparagus for 3-5 minutes, plunge in cold water to cool then drain. Mix the vegetables in a bowl, then add the fennel and pea shoots.
For the dressing, place the ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix just before serving.
To serve, spoon ricotta onto a plate, dress with some black pepper, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil and place some of the salad alongside.
Depending on the size of your lemons you may not need all fo the lemon juice, you just need enough lemon juice to make the milk split.
