Most of the time, we use quite a few pizza toppings. But some times, lessreally is more. And a plain old cheese pizza — done well — can be the mostdelicious pizza ever.
Like most dishes with only a few ingredients, it’s important that each oneof them be top quality. If you can’t buy fresh pizza dough at your neighborhoodgrocery store, make it yourself. And use San Marzano tomatoes if you can findthem.
But for the ultimate cheese pizza, the most critical ingredient is the pizzacheese, or more likely, cheeses. Although mozzarella cheese is the obviouschoice, it’s quite mild and without some spicy pepperoni to jack things up, youcould end up with a boring pizza.
Pizza Cheese
If you want a mouth-watering pizza that’s bursting with flavor, you’ll needto add some other cheeses. Emmental cheese is a very popular pizza topping inFrance. A Swiss cheese made from cow’s milk, it has a nutty, buttery flavor.Jarlsberg, which comes from Norway, is similar. Both melt beautifully.
Another Swiss cheese that makes a fabulous pizza is Gruyere. Slightly saltyfrom being brined, Gruyere is aged from a few months to a year. The flavorintensifies with aging. The French cheese, Comte, is quite similar. Thesecheeses are too rich to use as you would mozzarella. Either combine them withmozzarella, or use less than you ordinarily would.
As you’d expect, Italy also has several great pizza cheeses in addition tomozzarella. Fontina, which hails from the Val d’Aosta region, near the Swissborder, is mellow and slightly sweet. Burrata cheese — basically mozzarellawith a center of heavy cream — is subtle, but delicious. Ricotta also adds asmooth, creamy texture. Just be sure it’s well drained before you use it.
No pizza is complete without one of the Italian grating cheeses: parmesan,grana padano, Asiago, or pecorino romano. These add wonderful depth, but bemindful of their saltiness. For the best flavor, grate them right before youuse them.
Although the four cheeses in pizza quattro formaggi vary based on thepreferences of the pizza maker, there’s usually a bleu or veined cheese, oftengorgonzola. Use the gorgonzola sparingly, otherwise it will overwhelmeverything else.
Cheese Pizza
If you’re not a fan of bleu cheese, consider substituting goat cheese orfeta. These range in flavor from mild to pungent.
Before you put your pizza in the oven, drizzle a little top-quality oliveoil over the top. And if you’re so inclined, add a couple of twists offreshly-ground pepper or crushed red peppers flakes.
Once the aroma of melting cheese starts to waft from the oven, it will bedifficult to be patient. But let your oven bake until the cheese turns goldenbrown and bubbly. Pour yourself a nice glass of Italian red — maybeMontepulciano or Chianti — and enjoy the best pizza there is.
Read more tips on pizza cheese orlearn how to make your own.
Pizza Cheese Image Flickr: quinn.anyaCheese Pizza ImageFlickr: avlxyz