What Can You Make With Fresh Mozzarella Cheese?

When it comes to cheese, fresh mozzarella is one of the most delicious and simplest options. Whether you buy the mozzarella from your cheese retailer or make it yourself using stretching curd, you want to use it soon to take full advantage of its flavor and freshness (although you can usually freeze it for some time). If you don’t want to savor the mozzarella by itself, here are some things to cook with it.

Pizza

The classic food that most people think of when it comes to mozzarella is pizza and if you enjoy making pizza already, you will notice a huge improvement in flavor if you simply swap out your current cheese for some fresh mozzarella. This is the traditional Italian way to make pizza and there is a reason that it is with fresh mozzarella.

Pasta

The reason that fresh mozzarella works so well on pizza is because it melts cleanly due to its stringy texture. This means that it is also a great option to spread over pastas or even to make into lasagna. Whether you want to add just a bit of mozzarella flavor to your favorite pasta dish or get creative and make macaroni and cheese with your mozzarella, the freshness will add a great deal of flavor.

Salads

If you don’t want to take advantage of mozzarella’s excellent melting properties, then you can also try adding small pieces of it to a fresh salad. The ideal combination to bring out its flavor is the traditional Caprese salad that in addition to the fresh mozzarella, also has tomato, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper and of course the lettuce.

Breaded

Another option is to use your mozzarella to make a breaded appetizer. You can deep fry it to make mozzarella sticks with additional flavor and freshness or if you want to stick the Italian theme, you can only lightly bread it. Then try adding a bit of mixed greens and prosciutto to complete the Italian appetizer.

Marinated

Sometimes when you buy fresh mozzarella, it will come marinated as this adds additional flavor and preserves the freshness. If you just have the mozzarella and want to marinate it yourself, this is easy to do. All you need to do is take 1 ¼ cups of olive oil and add two cloves of garlic and some of your favorite fresh herbs (the classic options are rosemary and thyme). Add your fresh mozzarella and place it in the fridge; this dish should last for two weeks or so.