Basket Cheese and Pizza Rustica

Suzanne in Alabama is making a Pizza Rustica with basket cheese and is looking for a substitute cheese and more information about this fresh farmer’s cheese. Generally, basket cheese refers to the Italian, Formagetto and the process of making cheese by hanging in a basket to release the liquid in the whey.

Fresh Basket Cheese is moist with no salt and very tasty but it also comes as a Dry Basket Cheese (as shown in the photo) which includes some salt. Your best bet for finding basket cheese is an Italian specialty grocer. In searching for substitutions for your Pizza Rustica, consider other farmer’s cheeses.

Farmer’s cheese is semi-soft, un-aged, and fresh cheese. Farmer’s cheese varies by region and country of origin and often includes some additional herbs that are native and in-season. It can be made from milk from cows, sheep, or goats.

When purchasing in your local grocery, look for “farmer’s cheese” or fresh cheese such as queso blanco or if you prefer the flavor of goat’s milk, chevre. Queso blanco, a Mexican semi-soft cow’s milk cheese, will probably be your closest and most readily-available substitution to ‘basket cheese’ and will be wonderful for a pizza rustica. On the flip side, you can easily prepare your own farmer’s cheese by draining and pressing cottage cheese until all moisture is out. Here is a link to a recipe and podcast for preparing Indian farmer’s cheese, called paneer.

Go to Chef Shoba’s Paneer Recipe and Paneer Cooking Podcast.