Q: What is ricotta salata? Is it different from ricotta cheese?

A: Ricotta salata (“salted ricotta”) is a smooth, milky-white hard cheese that originated in Sicily. Its flavor is light, fresh and, despite its name, not overly salty at all. Ricotta salata is quite different from ricotta cheese, not only in its texture but also in the way it’s produced. It’s made from sheep’s milk curd that has been lightly salted, pressed into molds, dried and aged.

The texture of ricotta salata makes it ideal for slicing, cubing, grating or shaving. It’s delicious drizzled with olive oil, added to fruit and vegetable salads, tossed with pasta or used in a topping for bruschetta.

Regular ricotta is technically a dairy product, not a cheese. It’s made from whey, produced during the cheesemaking process, that has been heated, turned into soft curd and drained.