Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Sardegna

Ricotta fresca ovinaRicotta gentile

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Whey left from Sardinian sheep cheese is filtered through cloth, heated with stirring to about 60–70 °C, then without stirring to 80–82 °C, and the flakes are left 20–30 minutes to rise. They are ladled into baskets, drained a few hours and chilled, and the ricotta is wrapped in parchment after 18–22 hours.

Fully documentedCheese18 h – 23 hPAT (traditional agri-food product, Sardegna)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch recipe. Each ricotta weighs about 1.7 kg.
Whey from sheep cheese (pecorino) makingFiltered through a cloth; dairies may blend in milk or cream to improve texture and yield[laore-sheet][pala2016]
Salt (optional)[onaf-sheet]
Starternone; heat makes the curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 18 h – 23 h

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Starting material: sheep whey left from pecorino making, filtered through cloth

Step 1 of 5
Filter the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey stays in the vat where the pecorino curd was made, or goes back in after filtering through a cloth.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Ricotta is a boundary entry, set by heat, not by microbes. Whey left from Sardinian sheep cheese is filtered through cloth, heated with stirring to about 60–70 °C, then without stirring to 80–82 °C, and the flakes are left 20–30 minutes to rise. They are ladled into baskets, drained a few hours and chilled, and the ricotta is wrapped in parchment after 18–22 hours. Made in 5 steps over 18 h – 23 h. The longest step, drain in baskets and chill, takes 18–22 h (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…) and runs at 4–5 °C (Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural develop…).

Key numbers
Main step18–22 hReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Drain in baskets and chill
Temperature4–5 °CReported[laore-sheet][onaf-sheet]Drain in baskets and chill
AciditypH 6.1–6.8Reported[pala2016]Wrap and keep cold

What makes this one different

The fresh sheep ricotta of Sardinia, made from the whey of the island's pecorino. Heating stops at about 80–82 °C and the flakes are left to rise for up to half an hour.

Shape and size
Truncated cone about 11 cm across the top and 20 cm across the base, about 1.7 kg (ONAF gives 1.5–2.0 kg)
Water activity
0.974–0.991 (Pala et al. 2016)
Rind
None; snow white
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

With a pH of 6.1–6.8, high water activity and no preservatives, fresh ricotta is an easy medium for spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, so it is chilled at once and kept at 2–4 °C. Pala et al. found no Listeria monocytogenes or Bacillus cereus in their dairy samples.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes and Bacillus cereus (always below the detection limit in MAP-packed ricotta fresca from three industrial dairies).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The Laore sheet says fresh ricotta has been made in Sardinia for as long as sheep milk has been made into cheese there, citing Vodret (Scienza e Tecnica Lattiero-Casearia, 1970). Pala et al. note that a 1999 ministerial decree lists it as ricotta fresca ovina or ricotta gentile.

  1. [laore-sheet] Laore Sardegna (regional agricultural development agency), Prodotto tradizionale della Sardegna, sheet «Ricotta fresca ovina» (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [pala2016] Pala C., Scarano C., Venusti M., Sardo D., Casti D., Cossu F., Lamon S., Spanu V., Ibba M., Marras M., Paba A., Spanu C., De Santis E.P.L. 2016, Shelf life evaluation of ricotta fresca sheep cheese in modified atmosphere packaging, Italian Journal of Food Safety 5(3):5502paper
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet «Ricotta fresca ovina»web
  4. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page «Ricotta fresca ovina» (id 380)web