Sardinian sheep's milk with whole black peppercorns—salty, tangy, with building warmth.
Aged Sicilian-style sheep's milk pecorino from Sardegna, studded with whole black peppercorns. Salty, tangy, with a peppery bite. Ships to 48 states.
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Pecorino Pepato is a Sicilian-born sheep's milk cheese, today made in Sardegna, that gets its name from the whole black peppercorns dotted right through the paste. The cheese itself is the same recipe family as the classic aged pecorinos of southern Italy, but the pepper is worked into the curds during cheesemaking so every slice gives you a different distribution of peppercorns, some bites pure salty sheep's milk, the next a real piquant hit.
Aged for about 6 months, the paste comes out hard and a little flaky, with that dense, slightly oily texture you get from a well-aged sheep's milk cheese. The flavor leans salty and tangy on the front, with a toasted brown butter note running underneath from the aged sheep's milk, and then the peppercorns kick in with a slow building warmth that hangs on the finish. It's loud, in the best way.
This is a table cheese with real presence. Shave it over fresh pasta with good olive oil, grate it into polenta or risotto, or just put it on a board with honey and figs. The peppercorn bite makes it one of the more conversation-starting cheeses in the case.
Hard and flaky, breaks into shards under the knife with a dense, slightly oily paste studded throughout with whole black peppercorns.
Salty and tangy sheep's milk up front, then the peppercorns hit on the back end with a slow building heat that keeps the cheese loud on the palate.
Long savory finish, the salt and pepper hang on for a good 20 to 30 seconds with a peppery warmth that lingers after the cheese is gone.
Some sheep's milk tang on the front of the tongue, but most of the fresh milk has dried out by 6 months, so the lactic note reads more as a mineral pull than a creamy one.
A toasted brown butter note from the aged sheep's milk runs underneath the salt, more nutty than sweet, in the family of a young pecorino romano.
A faint sheep barnyard note from the paste, but the cheese is more about salt and pepper than forest floor.
The whole black peppercorns deliver a real piquant bite when you hit one, with a peppery warmth across the rest of the paste that builds with each bite.
Natural rind
Natural hard rind, dry and salty, typically trimmed off rather than eaten.
Pecorino Pepato stands on its own, but the right partners turn a wedge into a moment. Regional pairings first — they were built for each other.
The peppery bite wants a medium-bodied Italian red with some acid to cut the salt; Nero d'Avola from the same island is the home-team pick.
Honey and fig jam balance the salt and peppercorn heat; fresh figs and pears bring the sweet counterweight the cheese is built for.
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