A local Easter staple is returning in time for Christmas.
It’s basket cheese, a product that had been made at Valentino Cheese and Dairy in Mahoningtown for over 60 years until the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture found fault with the dairy’s pasteurizing process and, in 2016, put the kibosh on further production.
Valentino owner Joe Gorgacz, though, never lost the desire to make the specialty product, which is used in sausage pie, an Italian dish served for Easter. The 75-year-old recently made an arrangement with Pasture Maid Creamery owner Adam Dean to use Dean’s milk and his pasteurizing equipment to bring basket cheese back to the Valentino lineup — which also includes ricotta, ravioli and cavatelli — in time for the holidays.
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