Cheese Ice Cream

At the local pizza joint, they have hundreds of old magazines for customers to read and enjoy while waiting for their pie. I always love to read Gourmet--a magazine I wouldn't order but love to read. These are old magazines, so I can't pinpoint the issue, but I can tell you that this one summer issue talked about a Watermelon Sundae. Apparently, if you pair this special ice cream with watermelon, it makes watermelon taste even colder on the hottest of days.

Instead of going the watermelon route though, I decided to just make the ice cream. The ice cream was good with chocolate sauce, and is probably great with fruit--but by itself it is a little bit too gritty I think. But try it for yourself!

Cheese Ice Cream (I'm sure there is a better name for this)
Ingredients
1 15oz container cold whole milk ricotta (1 2/3 C)
3oz Cream Cheese
1 C cold whole milk
1 C sugar
2 T dark rum (you can buy little bottles at the liquor store)
1 t lemon zest
1/2 t vanilla
1/8 t salt
1/3 C heavy cream
Ice Cream Maker

Directions
1. Blend cheeses, milk, sugar, rum, zest, vanilla and salt in the blender until smooth, about 1 min (I used the food processor and it took about 30 seconds)
2. Add cream and blend until just combined, about 5 minutes (With the FP it took about 1 minute).
3. Freeze in the ice cream maker (it takes 20 minutes in ours usually but it was done in about 15). Freeze in an airtight container for 3 hours before serving (honestly you could serve it right away it was so thick and delicious).

Tip1 - The ice cream gets really cold and hard, leave it out before you serve it.
Tip2 - If you want to serve a Watermelon Sundae, cut slices one inch thick and serve ice cream next to the watermelon on a long plate, shave chocolate onto the ice cream.
Tip3 - I liked this ice cream with warm hot fudge which softened the ice cream