Fabulously Fresh Ricotta

• For the very freshest ricotta cheese, make your own. It's not an involved process that requires special cheese-making equipment. If you have a large pot, whole milk, cream and a splash of vinegar or lemon juice, you've got what it takes. A good ratio is 1/2 gallon of milk to 1 pint of cream. You could leave the cream out, but it adds richness.

Magic in Making the Cheese

• Making the cheese takes some patience, but the entire process should be completed in less than 30 minutes. Heat the milk and cream over medium-low heat, stirring every few minutes until the mixture comes almost to a boil. Add a generous pinch of salt and a splash of white vinegar -- about a tablespoon. You also could use apple cider vinegar or lemon juice, but that changes the flavor of the ricotta. Continue to heat the mixture, but don't let it come to a rolling boil. Adding the acid separates the curds of cheese from the whey. Stir for about a minute, then remove the mixture from the heat. Pour the curds and whey through a sieve lined with cheesecloth. Squeeze out as much moisture as you can by twisting the cheesecloth. You now have ricotta cheese.

It's Spaghetti Time

• Store-bought spaghetti is fine. You could make it from scratch -- it's just semolina flour, eggs and water -- but you would need a pasta machine to extrude the round spaghetti strands. Cook the dry spaghetti in lots of salted boiling water until it's al dente -- before the pasta gets mushy. Throw in some whole garlic cloves to cook with the pasta. Drain the cooked hot pasta. Pick out the garlic cloves and mash with a fork. Combine the mashed garlic with olive oil or melted butter and throw it back into the pasta.

Mix It Up

• Add the ricotta cheese to the hot spaghetti and toss. Season the dish with your choice of shredded basil leaves, fennel seeds, freshly ground black pepper, lemon zest, scallions, crushed dried oregano and salt. Parmesan cheese lends a bit of tanginess to the spaghetti and ricotta. Serve with a green salad. Arugula would be especially nice with its nutty flavor, but any fresh greens would do. Mix a bit of the ricotta with olive oil and vinegar to dress the salad.