Goat Cheese Goodness in Umbria: Pino’s the Master

We’re eating late late late these nights: the only disadvantage to Pino’s goat cheese-making. He milks five of our tweny-seven goats each morning and then again each evening – but with the last light of day when it’s cooler.

The goats give us about three liters of milk per day and Pino makes cheese and ricotta every other evening after milking – and that means dinner close to 10 pm.

A small sacrifice for the goodness.

And the cheeses are turning out better than ever nowadays, thanks to Pino’s early July birthday gift from our son Keegan and his wife, Francesca  and our daughter Giulia and her Gugliemo: all the equipment Pino needed for cheese-making and a booklet of instructions and recipes.

The cheeses are superb…and ah, that goats’ milk ricotta!  Buonissima!

I used to have it every morning on whole wheat bread spread with our fig jam. Pino just has espresso in th morning but he knew what I’d have….

I finished off our fig jam so now I’m enjoying that goats’ milk ricotta on bread spread with chestnut honey:

And  that goats’ milk ricotta highlights many a lunch these days as I make pasta alla ricotta the way Pino’s mamma Signora Vincenza taught me.  And here’s the gesture for “buonissimo” to describe that ricotta, that pasta dish:

So easy to make:  simply cream the ricotta  with a bit of the boiling pasta water and then add black pepper…..

….and a touch of extra-virgin olive oil:

I added a touch of our grated goats’ milk cheese before serving (and here’s the gesture for “un po‘” or “just a little”) :

Buon appetito!