14 Mozzarella Recipes That'll Leave You Wanting More (2024)

FAQs

What can I do with a lot of mozzarella? ›

You can make pizza on an English muffin, or a flour tortilla or a French bread. You could make a pasta casserole dish like lasagna or rigatoni with red sauce. You could make a meatball sandwich or any other sandwich you like melted cheese.

But the shelf life of dairy products can be short, and if you're trying to cut costs by buying bulk or reducing delivery frequency, then you risk ingredients reaching their use-by date before you've got to them. The good news is that many dairy products, including mozzarella, freeze incredibly well.

Homemade mozzarella cheese is fresher and more flavorful than the stuff you buy in the store. It requires a few special materials and a bit of patience, but the end result is worth it.

The Difference Between Burrata vs Mozzarella

Fresh mozzarella cheese is a semi-soft Italian cheese made from cow or water buffalo milk. Burrata cheese takes the mozzarella one step further — it’s mozzarella that’s formed into a pouch and then filled with soft, stringy curd and cream.

Freezing mozzarella can impact the texture slightly. Any moisture in the cheese or trapped on the surface of it (such as condensation) could expand and contract as it's frozen and thawed, giving you a more crumbly type of texture.

Mozzarella is used for most types of pizza and several pasta dishes or served with sliced tomatoes and basil in Caprese salad.

Keep the cheese in its original packaging and allow a couple of hours for the cheese to thaw, then use the cheese as soon as possible. You can also use the cheese frozen: For example, frozen shredded mozzarella can go right on a pizza—it'll melt in the oven.

Fresh mozzarella does not freeze well. The moisture content is too high. What you get when you thaw them will have a weird texture and a flat flavor, defeating the whole point of having them in the first place.

With proper storage in a refrigerator, mozzarella cheese can last for up to one to two weeks. In a freezer, mozzarella cheese can last longer, up to approximately three months. If you find any change of shape, color, taste, and aroma of any part of the cheese, cut and throw away that part.

One gallon of milk will make 1-1.25 lbs. of mozzarella. The following recipe is for one gallon (3.78 liters) of milk. Follow the usage rates for any ingredient you place into the milk listed on the ingredient.

Why is my homemade mozzarella tough? ›

Kneading cheese like bread during the stretching phase will result in too much moisture loss, making cheese tough and chewy.

Not enough humidity during aging, 55 degrees and 80% humidity is ideal for most cheeses. This is caused by too much stirring of curds during the curds-and-whey stages or by overcooking the curds. The curds have expelled too much moisture to be pliable and we need them pliable in order to properly press them.

That honor goes to pule cheese (or magareći sir), a rare cheese produced in Zasavica Donkey Reserve in west central Serbia. The price? Around $600 a pound. To put this in perspective, a pound of Parmigiano Reggiano costs $15 to $25 per pound and up, depending on the producer and how many months the cheese is aged.

Making burrata is complicated due to the creamy center and even additional ingredients. This makes Burrata cheese more expensive than mozzarella.

Although they share similar characteristics, traditional Mozzarella and Fior di Latte have distinct nuances that set them apart. For a start, mozzarella di bufala is made from buffalo milk, while fior di latte is always made from cow's milk. Some mozzarellas are made from cow's milk, but mozzarella di bufala is not.

Avoid freezing fresh mozzarella cheese as it looses its smooth texture and becomes a very dry and crumbly after defrosting. Fresh mozzarella has more water content, which causes crystals to develop in the freezer.

Is mozzarella cheese harmful? Consuming too many high-fat foods like mozzarella cheese can lead to an increased calorie intake and weight gain. Consuming too much saturated fat can increase your blood cholesterol levels and your risk for heart disease.