Mama Ricotta's

One of Charlotte’s favorite Italian restaurants, Mama Ricotta’s, 601 S. Kings Drive, has something cheesy planned for the evening of Monday, Nov. 7. The event is a special cheesemaker dinner featuring Paula Lambert, owner of the Mozzarella Company in Dallas, Texas, and one of the most celebrated artisan cheesemakers in the country. Lambert, author of “The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook and Guide,” will autograph copies available for purchase at the event. For $75, guests will get a four-course dinner that includes an artisan cheese tasting and demo, wine, tax and gratuity.

A cheese whiz
In the early 1960s, Lambert traveled to Italy to study art history. She quickly fell in love with the country and the culture and stayed for five years. After returning to Dallas, she married and later got the itch to start her own business. She wanted the business to have a focus on Italy and on food. It occurred to her that the wonderful handmade artisan cheese she had loved in Italy didn’t exist in Dallas, so she decided to fill the void and show her fellow Texans what they had been missing: fresh homemade mozzarella.

Mozzarella and more
That was 23 years ago. Today business is booming at Mozzarella Company, Lambert’s dream come true. Each of the 20 different cheeses Mozzarella Company produces is still made by hand from goat’s and cow’s milk.
According to information on Lambert’s Web site, www.mozzco.com, Mozzarella was first made in Italy near Naples from the rich milk of water buffalos. With no pasteurized milk and little to no refrigeration, the cheese had a short shelf life and seldom left the southern region of Italy where it was made. As cheese technology, refrigeration and transportation systems developed, fresh mozzarella spread to other regions of Italy.
Today, fresh mozzarella is found packaged dry in vacuum-sealed plastic packages or packed in a watery liquid called “latte.” It is available salted and unsalted and is more often than not made from cow’s milk, although sometimes it is made from a blend of cow’s and goat’s milk. Most buffalo milk mozzarella sold in the United States is imported from Italy and South America.
Lambert says it takes about eight hours to complete the cheesemaking process from milk to mozzarella.
“People suggest that we automate the process all the time,” said Lambert. “It’s true that we could produce more cheese that way, but then the cheeses just wouldn’t taste the same. The whole foundation of my company is built on making cheese from scratch, by hand, and that’s why it tastes so good.”
Mozzarella Company produces 200,000 to 250,000 pounds of cheese each year. The company has never advertised and has no sales staff – just a group of dedicated cheese makers, a Web site and Lambert at the creative helm. Lambert sells to the public via her Web site and to restaurants and cheese shops all over the country through the wholesale division of the business.
Charlotte restaurateur Frank Scibelli, owner of Mama Ricotta’s and Cantina 1511 on East Boulevard, is one of Lambert’s long-standing customers.
When Scibelli opened Mama Ricotta’s 14 years ago, it was all but unheard of to see fresh mozzarella in Charlotte. Scibelli ordered Lambert’s mozzarella until he started making his own at the restaurant. Now he regularly orders the freshly made goat cheese and other fresh cheeses from Mozzarella Company for both restaurants.

Simple secret to success
Why go the extra mile to serve fresh and homemade cheeses at Mama’s? Scibelli has always prided himself on the use of high-quality ingredients in the kitchens of his restaurants. The secret to Scibelli’s success is in keeping it simple – simple but good, using the best product he can get.
Mama Ricotta’s opened as a small pasta and pizzeria with 39 seats. Now it is a full-scale Italian restaurant with 220 seats, serving lunch and dinner daily and Sunday brunch.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve been able to add on more, both in terms of enlarging the kitchen and the dining areas,” said Scibelli. “The bigger we’ve gotten, the more leverage we have with vendors.” Now he is able to bring in more specialty products like Lambert’s cheeses, fresh-baked bread from New York and 00 pasta flour from Italy. “The restaurant has evolved over the years and we’ve gotten better at our craft,” said Scibelli.
In addition to lunch and dinner daily, Scibelli offers monthly cooking classes, occasional wine dinners and recipes from his own kitchen via an e-mail newsletter.
The newest addition at Mama’s is a brick-walled patio for al fresco dining. Scibelli plans to add an outdoor fireplace and patio heaters so customers can enjoy the outdoor space all year.
For more information or to make reservations for the cheesemakers dinner at Mama Ricotta’s on Nov. 7, call 704-343-0148.
In the meantime try either of these cheese-based recipes from Lambert’s book.

Baked Goat Cheese Salad
2 rounds of fresh Dallas goat cheese (approximately 5 oz. each), each sliced horizontally in half so there are 4 rounds total
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 bunch watercress
1/2 small head Bibb lettuce
1 small head radicchio
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
A few sprigs of fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, oregano, etc.)

Marinate the small rounds of goat cheese in olive oil with a few sprigs of fresh herbs for at least 30 minutes, at room temperature. Wash and dry lettuces. Prepare vinaigrette dressing with all ingredients except the olive oil and set aside. Remove the cheese from the oil and roll in bread crumbs. Place cheeses on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for 3 minutes.
Combine oil and herbs with other salad dressing ingredients. Toss lettuces with dressing. Arrange lettuces on individual salad plates and place baked goat cheese in the center of each salad. Serve with warm French bread. Recipe serves four.

Herbed Goat Cheese Tart
1 9-inch refrigerated or frozen piecrust, thawed
1/2 cup mixed fresh herb leaves (such as 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, plus 2 Tbsp. basil, 2 Tbsp. rosemary)
2 cloves garlic, minced
12 oz. (or 1-1/2 cups) fresh goat cheese, softened
4 oz. (or 1/2 cup) ricotta, well drained
4 Tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup crème fraîche
2 eggs, room temperature
2 Tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll the dough out on a floured board or work surface into a circle about 3 inches larger than the original piecrust pan. Transfer it to a 10- to 12-inch tart pan with a removable bottom by folding it into quarters or rolling it up over the rolling pin. Press into the bottom of the pan and up the sides. Trim any excess dough extending over the sides and crimp the edges or fold it back on itself to make the sides thicker. Prick the shell with the tines of a fork and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Place the crust in the oven and bake until golden brown, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack. Leave the oven on.
Place the herbs and garlic in the bowl of a food processor and finely chop by pulsing the motor. Add the goat cheese, ricotta, butter, crème fraîche, eggs, flour, salt and pepper. Process for 30 seconds or until the mixture is smooth. Pour this mixture into the prebaked piecrust. If desired, decorate the top of the tart with strips of sun-dried tomatoes.
Place the tart on a baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the filling has puffed and the top is golden brown. Remove from the oven and set on a rack to cool slightly.
Remove the outer ring of the tart pan, slip a spatula under the bottom crust to loosen it and slide the tart onto a serving platter. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cut into wedges; recipe serves six.

– Source: The Cheese Lover’s Cookbook & Guide, © 2000, by Paula Lambert.