🧀 Vastedda della valle del Belìce

Vastedda della valle del Belìce is an Italian cheese from western Sicily with a protected designation of origin (PDO), made from raw whole sheep's milk of the Valle del Belìce breed. The curd is kneaded, and the cheese is eaten fresh. The name was entered in the EU register by Regulation (EU) No 971/2010.

According to the single document, the cheese is a round loaf with slightly convex sides, 15–17 cm in diameter and 3–4 cm thick, weighing 500–700 g. It has no rind: the surface is matt white, compact and smooth, and a light straw-coloured patina is allowed. The curd is evenly white and not grainy, with possible light striations from kneading, and has no or very few holes. The aroma is that of fresh sheep's milk, and the flavour is mild, fresh and pleasant with slight acidity. Fat is at least 35 % of dry matter and 18 % of the fresh cheese; salt is at most 5 % of dry matter or 2.7 % of the fresh cheese.

The sheep graze natural and cultivated pasture and receive fresh fodder, hay and straw from the area; cereals, legumes and non-GMO concentrates may supplement the feed up to 50 % of dry matter, and products of animal origin are excluded. The specification links the character of the cheese to the traditional preparation of rennet, the acidification of the curd in cane sieves with natural local microflora, and the skilled kneading, which is demanding because sheep's milk is poorly suited to kneaded-curd cheese. The name comes from the round loaf shape the cheese takes when it sets in deep ceramic dishes called vastedde.

Milk and cheese must be produced in 18 municipalities of the provinces of Agrigento, Trapani and Palermo. The cheese is packed at the place of production in airtight polyethylene, and the label shows the PDO logo and the name.