Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from Italy, Lazio

Ricotta secca

Ricotta secca is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey from sheep, goat or cow cheese, with a little whole milk added, is heated to about 85–95 °C in a copper vat, and the flakes go straight into wicker or plastic moulds. The ricotta drains, is salted, and dries and ripens for 20–60 days into a hard, grating cheese.

Fully documentedCheese28 days – 2.9 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Lazio)Family: Whey cheese (heat-precipitated whey protein) family

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe sheets describe the method village by village and give no batch size. A finished ricotta weighs 100–250 g in the Valle di Comino and the Aurunci and Ausoni hills, and 100–700 g in the Monti della Laga and the Sabina.
Whey from sheep, goat or cow cheese (pecorino, caciotta, marzolina), filtered in the vat[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Whole milk, added to the whey at coagulation1.5–2% (2–3% cow milk at Amatrice, 2–4% goat milk at Castelforte)[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, dry or as brine[lazio-sheet]
Aromatic herbs, potato starch or bran for the surface (optional, by district)[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starternone; the sheets call the set acid-thermal (acido-termica)

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days – 2.9 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: A little whole milk goes into the filtered whey left from cheesemaking

Step 1 of 7
Filter the whey and add milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The whey is filtered in the vat to remove impurities.

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 secca is a boundary entry, set by heat and acid, not by microbes. Whey from sheep, goat or cow cheese, with a little whole milk added, is heated to about 85–95 °C in a copper vat, and the flakes go straight into wicker or plastic moulds. The ricotta drains, is salted, and dries and ripens for 20–60 days into a hard, grating cheese. Made in 7 steps over 28 days – 2.9 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 20 days – 2 months (Regione Lazio / ARSIAL) and runs at 14–16 °C (Regione Lazio / ARSIAL).

Key numbers
Main step20 days – 2 monthsReported[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature14–16 °CReported[lazio-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen

What makes this one different

A salted and dried ricotta, not a fresh one. After heating at 85–95 °C it drains for up to two days, is salted, and dries and ripens 20–60 days or more, so it keeps and can be grated.

Composition
About 23% water and 71% fat in dry matter, a very hard and very fat product
Size
100–250 g in the Valle di Comino and the Aurunci and Ausoni hills, 100–700 g in the Monti della Laga and the Sabina; cylinder, tube or truncated cone by district
Season
Sheep ricotta February to October; goat October to May; cow in summer

Related ferments

Safety

The whey is heated to 85–95 °C, then the ricotta is salted and dried to about 23% water. The sheets mark heating, moulding, draining, salting and ripening as control points under the 2004 EU hygiene package.

History and sources

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

The ONAF sheet says the cheese has been sold in local markets for centuries and is tied mainly to Pecorino di Picinisco. It is listed in the 1991 'Atlante dei Prodotti Tipici - I Formaggi' of the Istituto Nazionale di Sociologia Rurale, which refers only to the ricotta secca made in the province of Rieti.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [lazio-sheet] Regione Lazio / ARSIAL, Prodotti tipici e tradizionali del Lazio, 'Scheda analitica del prodotto' for Ricotta secca (copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Ricotta secca'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Ricotta secca' (id 876)web