Pecorino Romano Cheese

Pecorino Romano cheese is a hard, aged Italian sheep’s milk cheese with a natural rind and a pale ivory interior. It tastes intensely salty and savory with a peppery tang, grates cleanly into fine shards, and holds its bite when melted; commonly grated over pasta and soups, shaved onto salads, or worked into meatballs and pestos, and sold as wedges, blocks, or pre-grated. Traditional versions use animal rennet, so it may not suit strict vegetarians.

It originated around Rome and today is produced mainly in Lazio and Sardinia under protected designation rules, using sheep’s milk and dry salting. Producers age wheels at least five to eight months, a practice rooted in Roman-era preservation and central to the cheese’s grating role in Italian cuisine.