Today I would like to show you two ways to make dry cream cheese from leftovers and basic recipes. The first is my grandmother’s age-old traditional method, and the second is a newer way of making dry cheese from commercially available cream cheese.

I know a relatively dry cream cheese from my home country, in Macedonia it is called Urda, which is difficult to find in shops here. Maybe southern delicatessens have it. So I decided to make it myself. The ingenious thing about it is how easy it is to produce.

I’m sure we all know the situation where we still have products in the fridge that are either expired and about to really spoil. Mostly yoghurt and/or milk are affected by this. But don’t worry about it, just make cheese with it. My recipe is great for using leftovers.

We need the dry cream cheese for many different dishes, all of which I would like to introduce to you in the course of time. Now, at the latest, you will hear the objection, “Why dry cheese? That’s true, but not always. I can use normal cream cheese perfectly in a cream sauce, but in a dish like Macedonian-style paprika with egg, traditionally Urda, dry cream cheese, is often added. Delicious, by the way. If you were to use the usual grainy cream cheese now, the dish would be watered down.

I use organic products as far as is currently possible.

Recipe

Make your own granular cream cheese

Two ways tomake your own dry cream cheese, with just a few ingredients and easy to make.

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Prep Time 10 mins

Resting Time 8 hrs

Total Time 8 hrs 10 mins

Calories for 1 serving 214.9

Ingredients

  

Ingredients for approx. 500 g cheese in the traditional way

• 1.5 l yoghurt (organic)
• 300 ml fresh raw milk (organic, or 3.5% fresh milk)

Ingredients for 250 g plain cheese

• 400 g cottage cheese (20 % fat, refrigerated shelf)

Instruction

 

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Preparation according to the traditional method

• Put the yoghurt and milk in a saucepan and whisk until smooth.
  
• Bring to the boil and cook for about 5 minutes.
  
• Remove from the heat and refrigerate for about 8 hours.
  
• After the resting time, pour through a sieve or a fine cloth and leave to drain for about 3-4 hours.
  
• Transfer the now dry cheese from the sieve into a bowl. See note for shelf life.
  

Preparation according to the second method

• Cottage cheese or granular cream cheese.
  
• Place the sieve on an appropriately sized bowl and place the cloth, folded double, in it.
• Pour the commercially available granular cream cheese onto the cloth.
  
• Fold the ends of the cloth together, twist so that liquid comes out and then knot the ends.
  
• Now let the cheese rest in the strainer and bowl for 6-8 hours, preferably overnight.
• After the resting time, open the cloth.
  
• Transfer the now dry cheese from the cloth into a bowl. See note for shelf life.
  

Course Basic recipe, Dairy products

Cuisine Macedonian

Notes

The cream cheese should be used up in one to two days.

If you can’t do that, you need to salt it and keep it in the fridge. Salting increases the shelf life to about a week.

You can also freeze the cheese.

Nutrition

Serving: 100g | Calories: 214.9kcal | Carbohydrates: 20.8g | Protein: 13.9g | Fat: 7.8g

Have you tried the recipe?Mention @ballesworldblog or use the hashtag #ballesworld!

You will serve the family wonderful dishes with full flavour with this dry fresh cheese.

Enjoy your meal and have fun trying it out!

Do you like my recipe?

If this recipe, or one of the many others, appealed to you, or if you have any questions or helpful tips about the recipe, then feel free to leave me a comment below and rate the recipe with stars 😊.