category: food/groceries: milk and dairy products: cheese

Ricotta salata

Ricotta salata is, like all Ricotta varieties, a fresh cheese of the category whey cheeses. Ricotta salata is produced from the whey of sheep milk. It comes from the Italian island Sardinia. Ricotta salata has a blunt conical form, just like the baskets it drains in. The rindless cheese is sold in portions of 1 to 1.5 kg. Its milky white interior is soft and spreadable. Sold as table cheese Ricotta salata has a ripening time of 20 to 30 days, as a grating cheese even 6 months. The fresh cheese variety has a mild, slightly salty taste. Ricotta salata is available at different fat levels but mostly sold in its full fat variety of at least 45 percent fat in dry matter. A variety of the salted Ricotta salata is the smoked Ricotta salata al forno.