Fresh Green Dirt Farm sheep's milk cheese makes this quick pasta creamy and decadent
By Catherine Neville
The secret to super creamy pasta is not in the dairy case at your local grocery store. It’s in the cheese section.
Fresh cheese, like the fresh sheep’s milk cheese from Green Dirt Farm, an Animal Welfare Approved dairy in Weston, Missouri, can be stirred by the spoonful into hot pasta along with some reserved pasta water to create a deeply flavorful, incredibly easy cream sauce. Once you try this technique, you’ll find yourself adding a touch of creamy richness to a number of dishes. In fact, I made a quick lunch today by cooking off some pasta, adding it back to the hot pot, stirring in some jarred (!) tomato sauce over medium heat and then tossing in two good spoonfuls of GDF’s plain fresh cheese, stirring to melt the cheese into the tomato sauce. Super fast. Super delicious.
The fresh cheese from Green Dirt is the essence of the creamery’s approach to cheese making. Because it’s so simple — just milk and cultures, a tiny amount of natural rennet, and a touch of salt — there’s nothing to hide behind. And that’s how Sarah Hoffmann and her team at GDF want it. They build flavor in their cheeses by taking extraordinary care of their flock of sheep and cultivating rich biodiversity in the grasses the sheep eat on the farm’s beautiful rolling hills.
If you want to visit Green Dirt Farm, click here to watch our episode from season one.
Whole Wheat Pasta with Prosciutto and Fresh Sheep’s Milk Cheese
Recipe by Catherine Neville
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
1 package whole wheat rigatoni (or any other pasta shape that you enjoy)
Olive oil
4-oz thinly sliced prosciutto
4 shallots, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups quartered button mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz fresh Green Dirt Farm Fresh Sheep’s Milk Cheese
1 cup roughly chopped arugula
Handful chopped parsley
Green Dirt Farm Prairie Tomme, to serve
| Preparation | Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook rigatoni until al dente. Drain, reserving 2 cups of the cooking liquid.
In a large sauté pan, heat a good dose of olive oil until shimmering, then add prosciutto – in batches – and cook until crisp. Remove to a towel to drain and then break into pieces.
In the same pan, add more oil and then add shallots and cook until beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and stir until fragrant. Add in the mushrooms and sauté until tender, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add in the pasta and toss, then break fresh cheese into pieces and add to pan along with 1 cup of the reserved pasta water, stirring to create a creamy consistency.
Add chopped arugula and toss until it is wilted, adding more water as necessary to achieve the consistency you prefer. Toss in the crisp prosciutto, taste and adjust seasoning and then add parsley. Serve topped with freshly grated Prairie Tomme.