Recipes for Adventures in Cheesemaking
Written by Mike Colpo
COMPLETELY-FROM-SCRATCH PIZZA
Few things are more empowering than creating a full meal from the simplest ingredients. Cheese making vastly expands the dining opportunities for anyone who wishes to do this. And pizza is one of easiest –– and tastiest –– ways to get started.
Ingredients
1 batch homemade mozzarella (recipe below)
½ batch homemade pizza dough (recipe below)
Fresh basil
Fresh tomatoes
Olive oil
Sauce (optional)
Dough
1 pound (3½ cups) unbleached bread flour (or all-purpose flour)
2 teaspoons granulated sugar or honey
1½ teaspoons table salt (or 2½ teaspoons kosher salt)
1¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1½ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Semolina flour or cornmeal (optional, for dusting pizza peel)
Combine the flour, sugar, or honey, salt, yeast, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl. Add 11 fluid ounces (1¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons) cool water (60 to 65ºF). With a large spoon, mix until the dough comes together in a coarse ball, 2 to 3 minutes. Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
Knead the dough: Knead dough for 2 to 3 minutes. Add more flour as needed. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky. When poked with a clean finger, it should peel off like a Post-It® note. Take care with the dough –– the kneading should be gentle to avoid tough crust –– no pounding, punching, or hard squishing.
Chill the dough: Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and roll it around to coat all of it with a thin sheen of oil. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least eight hours or up to three days.
When ready to make pizza, remove the dough from the fridge and let warm up for about 1½ to 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450ºF
Roll or hand-toss the dough into a pizza shape. Add toppings (recommended: When you’re making your first pizza with homemade cheese, you’ll get the best flavor and sense of what your cheese is like if you make it with the simplest of ingredients. A classic margarita-style pizza will show off your cheese nicely.)
Apply a thin layer of sauce to the dough. Then slice or tear your mozzarella into equally sized pieces and spread evenly. Tear fresh basil leaves and scatter over the cheese. If you have homegrown tomatoes, slice and add these as well. Finish with a generous drizzling of olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and a light sprinkling of sea salt.
HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA
Ingredients
1 gallon whole milk (anything except ultra-pasteurized)
1¼ cup cool, chlorine-free water (divided)
1½ teaspoons citric acid
¼ teaspoon liquid rennet (or ¼ of a rennet tablet)
1 teaspoon cheese or kosher salt
Equipment
Large pot (min. 6-quart capacity)
Slotted spoon
Thermometer
Latex or nitrile gloves
Long, narrow spatula (sometimes called an icing spatula) or dull knife
Large bowl (min. 4-quart capacity)
Colander
2 small bowls and/or measuring cups
Directions
Pour milk into large pot. Allow it to rest and slowly warm while you prepare other ingredients.
Dissolve rennet (either form) in ¼ cup of the unchlorinated water. Set aside.
Dissolve citric acid in remaining 1 cup of unchlorinated water and pour into milk. (*The citric acid solution must be added to the milk BEFORE you start to warm it, otherwise, the curds will not form properly.)
Heat the milk to 90 degrees while stirring gently and constantly.
Once the milk reaches 90 degrees, remove from heat and add rennet solution, stirring with a vertical motion for 30 seconds.
Cover and let set for 5 minutes.
Check curd formation. The curd should form a relatively solid white mass that is distinctly different from the surrounding whey, which will be a more-or-less clear liquid. Push down lightly with the backs of your fingers or the tip of your spatula to check that the curd and the whey are separated.
Cut the curd in a grid pattern of about ½-inch squares.
Place the curds back on the burner and stir while heating to 110 degrees (HINT: This is one step where you can step away from the stirring for a moment, such as when you need to perform the following step).
Prepare a large bowl of hot water (minimum 170 degrees).
Once the curds reach 110, turn off the heat and continue stirring for 2 to 3 more minutes.
Ladle or pour curds into colander (HINT: Place colander over a second large pot so you can trap and save your whey. It’s a great substitute for water in bread and pizza crust recipes).
Fold the curds gently together and drain off as much whey as possible.
Immerse colander of curds in large bowl of hot water and gently stir/fold until the curds begin to stretch and take on a noticeable sheen.
Periodically remove curds from the water, grab and stretch as far as possible without breaking them. You should be able to stretch your curds slowly to arm’s length. The curds will not stretch well below 135 degrees. If they don’t feel stretchy, immerse them in hot water and let soak a bit longer to warm them up.
While hand-stretching the curds, gradually add the cheese salt to taste (you don’t need to use the full 1 teaspoon). Don’t expect it to “mix in.” You’ll be sprinkling the salt on the surface of the cheese. Stretching and re-folding the cheese slowly works the salt into it.
Once you’ve added all the salt, heat the cheese for its final stretching/shaping. You can braid it, shape it into multiple balls, or simply save it as one large mass. Immediately submerge it in ice water to help it hold its shape. Remove from the water before storing.
The cheese will store in the fridge for up to two weeks. But be advised that it will take on the shape of your storage container. Do not store in liquid unless you are familiar with the process of brining. Too little salt in the storage liquid will turn your cheese into unpleasant goo; too much will create a hard and excessively salty cheese.
