Although you can make pizza with almost any kind of cheese, mozzarellacheese is the hands-down favorite. Stringy, chewy, and slightly salty, it holdsits own without overpowering the other pizza toppings. In fact, what many argueis the world’s best pizza — Pizza Margherita — has only tomatoes, fresh basil,and mozzarella as its ingredients. And the flavor is incredible.
There are actually several kinds of mozzarella cheese available. So ifyou’ve been using the packaged, pre-shredded kind that comes in a plastic bag,branch out and try something different. Fresh, high-moisture cheese produces apizza that‘s quite different from one made with the low-moisture kind.
Fresh mozzarella cheese
Two kinds of mozzarella are used in Naples, which is the pizza center of theuniverse. Fior di latte is made from cow’s milk — it can be either pasteurizedor unpasteurized. And mozzarella di bufala is made from the milk of the waterbuffalo.
During the 16h century, water buffalos were brought back to Italy fromIndia. The milk is hard to digest, but it makes cheese that’s sweet and creamy.Unlike mozzarella from cow’s milk, it is pure white. Because there are so fewherds, it’s more expensive than fior di latte, but you don’t need much to makea great pizza.
Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, which is made in the area around Naples, is aEuropean Union Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) product. Most authentic,Neapolitan pizzas are made with this.
Unlike most cheese, mozzarella isn’t aged and it’s best when it’s veryfresh.
To make mozzarella, the cheese curds are heated in water until they forminto strings. Then they’re stretched, kneaded, and shaped into balls. Thisfresh cheese is stored in brine and is quite moist, so you’ll need to drain itand press out the liquid before using it to top your pizza. Otherwise, yourcrust will be limp.
Pizza with burrata cheese
Don’t grate it. Use a sharp knife and cut it into thin slices, then lay themon top of the pizza about three or four inches apart. They will spread a littleduring cooking. But this kind of mozzarella should cover the pizza. Andconsider foregoing other pizza toppings so you can really savor the flavor ofthe cheese.
Burrata cheese has been eaten in Italy for decades, but it has only recentlybecome popular in the United States. It has an outer shell of mozzarella, andan inner core of fresh cream. When you cut into it, the center oozes out,blends with the mozzarella, and creates a sinfully delicious concoction. Thesweetness of burrata is great when combined with salty meats likeprosciutto.
As the burrata bakes, it will spread over the surface of the pizza. It’svery rich — and expensive — so use it sparingly.
Smoked mozzarella, also called affumicata, can add a whole other dimensionof flavor. And hard, grating cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padanoalso are an excellent complement to fresh mozzarella.
Next time you’re at your grocery store, look in the cheese section forfresh, high moisture mozzarella cheese and give it a try.
Read how to make your own mozzarella cheese here.
Fresh mozzarella cheese Image Flickr: SanFranAnniePizzawith burrata cheese Image Flickr: arnold |inuyaki