Dipasquale Formaggi, Casa del Formaggio S. Anna
Family cheese shop that grew from a 1950s shop in central Ragusa, where Carmelo Dipasquale selected and aged cheeses in natural caves. Now on Corso Italia, with oil, wine and cured meats.
About Piacentinu Ennese
A pressed ewe's milk cheese of central Sicily, made from whole raw milk of the Comisana, Pinzirita and Valle del Belice breeds and their crosses. Local saffron goes into the milk with the rennet and whole black peppercorns into the curd before it is pressed into rush baskets, so the rind is grooved and the paste yellow and flecked with pepper. It ripens for at least 60 days. Slow Food reads the name as the dialect for 'pleasing'; legend says the Norman count Roger added saffron to cheese to lift his wife Adelasia's depression. It became a DOP in 2011.
Made in: Province of Enna
On the plate
Ranges from mildly to more intensely peppery with age, with a characteristic smell and light saffron notes (Qualigeo). Slow Food calls it one of Sicily's least aggressive cheeses, delicate in smell and aromatic and slightly sweet from the saffron after about 60 days.
Rind: natural crust
Wine and cheese
What to pour with Piacentinu Ennese
Etna Rosso Sicily
Our pickBlack pepper and saffron run through Piacentinu's yellow paste. Etna Rosso from Nerello Mascalese is fresh and mineral, with red cherry fruit, fine tannin and high acidity, so it meets the spice without being flattened by it.
Marsala Superiore (off-dry) Sicily
Our pickPiacentinu runs from mildly to more intensely peppery, with light saffron notes. An off-dry Marsala Superiore, with dried apricot, caramel and a gentle oxidative edge, softens the pepper and echoes the saffron.
The grapes behind these winesNerello MascaleseGrillo
From the source
Where to buy and taste it
Dipasquale Formaggi, Marina di Ragusa
Second Dipasquale shop, opened in 2007 on the coast at Marina di Ragusa, alongside the Corso Italia shop.
Cheese experiences nearby
Guided visit and cheese tasting at Feudo Pollichino
Guided visit of an organic sheep farm and dairy, ending with a tasting of its DOP cheeses, fresh zabbinata and ricotta desserts. Bookings go through the farm's contact page.
We Cheese, Ragusano DOP and the cheeses of the Iblei
Four-day cheese event in the streets of Ragusa Ibla built around Ragusano DOP: tastings, live cheesemaking, themed restaurant menus and guided visits of historic palaces. The second edition was held 23 to 26 July 2026.
FAM, Fiera Agroalimentare Mediterranea
Ragusa's agricultural and livestock fair. The 51st edition, held in September 2026, included a Ragusano DOP consortium workshop, wheel marking and a best-wheel contest. In 2025 it moved to a new site on via Prof. Vincenzo Malfitano.
Torneo del Maiorchino, Carnival wheel-throwing at Novara di Sicilia
Carnival game in Novara di Sicilia: teams of throwers send a whole aged Maiorchino wheel, wound with a cord, rolling down the town's main street. Slow Food says Basicò keeps the custom too.
Piacentinu Ennese: questions
Why is Piacentinu yellow?
Qualigeo says the paste is yellow from the saffron added to the milk; the saffron is grown locally and rich in crocin and picrocrocin.
How big is a wheel?
The consortium gives a cylinder 20 to 21 cm across and 14 to 15 cm high, weighing 3.5 to 4.5 kg.
Where is it made?
Qualigeo gives the whole province of Enna; Slow Food and Italian Wikipedia name nine communes: Aidone, Assoro, Barrafranca, Calascibetta, Enna, Piazza Armerina, Pietraperzia, Valguarnera and Villarosa.
How is it used in Sicilian cooking?
Qualigeo says it is eaten as a table cheese and used in breading for meat, in pasta in chicken broth and in capretto abbuttunato, a typical dish of Enna.
Same cheeseboard
More cheeses from Sicily
Plan the trip
Visit Piacentinu Ennese country
Tastings and tours where it is made, and somewhere to stay.
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Sources: protection register, www.qualigeo.eu, www.piacentinuennese.it. The drawing is made from the cheese's recorded shape, rind and paste, not a photograph.