Cooking w/ Cheese

We love cheese at Mama's Gelato & Pizzeria. It's a staple ingredient ini our recipes and gives flavor to our dishes, from lasagna, pizza to pasta. Here are some tips we collected over the years that we think you would find useful for your home kitchen. 

Choosing:

- Shop with your eyes. Always, always, always look at the expiration date of cheese, or any other product for that matter, that you buy. 

- Some cheese, like parmesan, are better purchased on the rind than pre-grated. A little exercise with the grater makes all the difference. Not to mention toned arms!

Keeping:

- To keep cheese moist and mold -free, always double wrap it when storing it in the fridge/freezer. You can use parchment paper first then wrap it with aluminum foil. 

- Type of cheeses that can be kept frozen: parmesan, mozzarella, goat cheese, cheddar, gruyere. Soft cheeses, like brie, are best not frozen.

Cooking:

- Remember when cooking w/ parmesan cheese, make sure to follow the recipe if specified. The grate size, such as fine, medium or coarse, can impact the way your food tastes because it alters the weight and volume. 

- It's easy to use a grater with hard cheese, but what if the recipe calls for soft cheese? Semplice! Just brush on a bit of oil on the side of the grater/grate box. 

Cleaning:

- Having a hard time getting those bits of cheese off your grater? Soak it in hot, soapy water for about 10 minutes dan use a soft brush to clean the grate holes. 

Happy cooking!