Ingredients

serves 4 to 6 as a fine pasto, an end to the meal

　　3 ounces mild, creamy goat’s milk cheese such as banon, montrachet, or boucheron from France, caprini from Italy, or any one of the American-made beauties from Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Wisconsin, Maine, New York, or Vermont

　　6 ounces very fresh, whole-milk ricotta

　　6 ounces mascarpone

　　Dark honey (buckwheat, chestnut, etc.)

　　OR

　　Marmellata di limone (page 99)

　　

Step 1

Whip the 3 cheeses together to a light, smooth cream in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Turn the blended cheese out into a crock or a serving bowl, cover it tightly with plastic wrap, and hold it in the refrigerator until 1 hour before presentation.

　　

Step 2

Permit the cheese to warm to room temperature and serve it with a pitcher of warmed honey or the marmellata di limone and a basket of oven-toasted bread. One mantles the warm, crunchy bread with the cheese, threading it with the honey or dragging it through a tiny plot of the marmellata on his plate, wondering why one might end a civilized supper with any other thing.

　　A Taste of Southern Italy