Pizza cheese
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BY CANDACE HIEBERT | PHOTO BY DANIEL BONTJE
hen you think of pizza, do you imagine melting pools of cheesy goodness like we do? Usually it’s the kind that stretches into long strings when you take a bite, but here are some suggestions that will bump up your pizza or flatbread to the next level!
Mozzarella Blend
The quintessential American pizza cheese, this blend of full fat and part-skim mozzarella cheese will give you that rich, fatty flavour and mouthfeel, while also browning nicely due to the lower moisture content in the part-skim cheese. Put a twist on the classics and try making a breakfast pizza with bacon, sliced tomatoes, and mozza blend topped with a fried egg!
Gorgonzola
Think of blue cheese almost as a condiment—especially as an addition to any flatbread that has a fruit component. Use creamy Gorgonzola as the only cheese or as an accent to a mozzatopped pie, depending on how intense you want the flavour to be. Up your pizza game and crumble Gorgonzola over a pear and proscuitto flatbread, and finish with a drizzle of truffle-infused honey!
Fresh Mozzarella
Fresh mozzarella’s very high moisture content makes it flow when melted, and its rich, clean flavour is a perfect balance to other fresh ingredients—the classic margherita pizza is just fresh basil, sliced tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Try topping a flatbread with slices of roasted eggplant and zucchini, fresh mozzarella, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Soft Chevre
Tangy goat chevre becomes gentler and less sharp when melted, but still has that distinctive farmyard flavour. We like to use it on its own, as it can get a little lost when mixed with other cheeses. Try sautéeing wild mushrooms and onions in butter before scattering them over your pizza dough, and topping with dollops of soft chevre.
26 Culinaire | April 2020
Feta
Salty, crumbly, pungent—feta is a versatile cheese that sometimes gets relegated to just topping salads. Added to a pizza after baking, it provides a lovely temperature and texture contrast. When baked with the pizza, it doesn’t really melt, but softens and browns. Classic greek flavours are ideal with feta—try topping a fresh tomato, olive, and grilled chicken pizza with a liberal handful of feta before baking.
Many thanks to Springbank Cheese who provided all these delicious cheeses for photography and sampling. Candace is passionate about food—eating it, making it, and writing about it—and is up to trying any and all new culinary experiences, especially with friends.
