Pecorino Toscano

Pecorino Toscano is a soft or semi-hard cheese made exclusively from whole sheep's milk sourced within a defined area of Tuscany and specified bordering communes in Umbria and Lazio. The specification distinguishes two types by minimum maturing period and physical characteristics, with fat content in dry matter set at no less than 40% for semi-hard and no less than 45% for soft cheese.

About this designation

Registered as a PDO under file number PDO-IT-0020, with EU protection granted on 2 July 1996, Pecorino Toscano is produced from whole sheep's milk — used raw or thermally treated, including by pasteurisation — drawn from the production area. That area comprises the whole of the Region of Tuscany, the municipalities of Allerona and Castiglione del Lago in Umbria, and eleven named municipalities in Lazio including Acquapendente, Bolsena, and Capodimonte. Milk must be coagulated at between 33 and 38 °C using calf rennet over 20 to 25 minutes. Curd is broken to hazelnut size for soft cheese and to grain-of-maize size for semi-hard cheese; the semi-hard curd may be cooked at 40 to 42 °C for 10 to 15 minutes. Cheeses are brined in sodium chloride solution at 17 to 19 %, equivalent to 15 to 17° Baumé. Maturing takes place at 5 to 12 °C with relative humidity of 75 to 90 %. The minimum maturing period is 20 days for soft cheese and no less than four months for the semi-hard type. The heel of each whole cheese is marked in ink for soft cheeses and hot-marked for semi-hard cheeses. Labels must bear the wording 'Pecorino Toscano D.O.P.' or 'Pecorino Toscano D.O.P. stagionato' with the mark measuring at least 15 mm. The inspection body is Certiprodop S.r.l.; the producer group is the Consorzio per la tutela del Pecorino Toscano D.O.P.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PDO on 2 July 1996 under file number PDO-IT-0020, with eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000013002.
• The specification sets a minimum fat content in dry matter of no less than 40% for semi-hard cheeses and no less than 45% for soft cheeses.
• The minimum maturing period is 20 days for soft cheese and no less than four months for the semi-hard type.
• The production area extends beyond Tuscany to include two municipalities in Umbria and eleven named municipalities in Lazio.

Tasting notes

Tuscan sheep's milk cheese in fresh and aged styles. Fresco (20+ days): pale ivory soft elastic paste, mild sweet milky flavor. Stagionato (4+ months): firmer straw paste, savory-aromatic with grass-and-herb notes; less intense than Pecorino Romano.

HoReCa use

Fresco on Tuscan cheese boards (with Prosciutto Toscano); Stagionato grated over Tuscan pasta (pici); paired with chestnut honey, fig jam, or Vin Santo.

Packaging

• wheel-full-1-3.5kg
• wedge-vacuum-300g
• wedge-vacuum-150g