What can you cook with mozzarella cheese? Simple recipes with mozzarella - dishes and salads with mozzarella cheese, step-by-step preparation of cheese at home
Recipes with mozzarella are so delicious that you should try the most popular ones. Moreover, such cheese is good both as an independent dish and as an ingredient in various culinary recipes. Salads, casseroles, pizza, lasagna and other dishes become real masterpieces when this type of cheese is present in them. Mozzarella is a cheese originally from Italy and was previously made from fresh buffalo milk. Nowadays, many chefs prefer to use less exotic, but still of the same quality, milk from cows familiar to us as its base. And despite the fact that this type of cheese is, first of all, one of the main products of Italian cuisine, many of our compatriots enjoy tender and tasty pieces of the famous mozzarella
But before you run to the nearest supermarket for a package of the treasured cheese, you should find out that you can make mozzarella yourself.
How to make mozzarella cheese at home - detailed recipe
The most important rules to consider when trying to make homemade mozzarella are:
The milk must be homemade. The one sold in bags is not suitable. It is unlikely that you can make mozzarella from “store-bought” milk.
It is better to store finished mozzarella in whey, otherwise it will lose its taste and spoil very quickly.
Mozzarella has a shelf life of about 4 days in the refrigerator.
Real mozzarella needs to be kneaded like dough to produce good quality cheese.
It is necessary to strictly adhere to dosages and temperatures during the preparation process in order to obtain a quality product.
We will need:
- fresh milk – 3 l. It should be rich, ideally if there is about 0.5 liters of cream in the jar. To check the amount of cream, you need to put the milk in the refrigerator for a while before preparing it.
- citric acid – 7 g;
- 2 teaspoons of diluted pepsin (rennet). The quantity here may vary; see the recommended dose on the package.
- 200 ml of boiled or filtered cold water. Plain water is undesirable because it contains chlorine, which destroys the properties of pepsin;
- ordinary water;
- salt – 4 tablespoons for preparing brine;
- sieve;
- 3.5 and 2 liter pans;
- gloves to avoid getting burned;
- ultra-precise thermometer
Preparation:
First you need to dilute citric acid in 100 ml of water.
Then the resulting solution must be combined with cold (up to 10 degrees) milk. All this, with constant stirring, heats up to 32 degrees.
Important! The milk must be cold, otherwise it will simply curdle under the influence of acid.
Stir the resulting starter quickly and very intensively for about 10 seconds, and then cover with a lid. Now you need to wait for a clot to form. Typically, this process lasts from 15 to 40 minutes. To understand if it is ready, you need to press on it with your finger. If your finger is clean, the curd is ready.
Now it is important to cut the resulting clot into squares measuring approximately 2x2 cm. These pieces should just stand for about five minutes to settle a little.
After this, put the pan back on the fire and begin to heat the mass, stirring constantly so that the squares do not stick together. It is best to use a wooden spatula for stirring. Heating continues until the mass reaches a temperature of 35 degrees.
By the way, don’t rush to throw away the whey; it will be useful for storing and further preparing mozzarella.
The next step is water preparation. To do this, you need to pour it into a saucepan, boil and cool well.
We heat the drained whey to 80 degrees, add salt to it and proceed to the final stage of preparing mozzarella. To do this, use a slotted spoon to take a certain part of the squeezed cheese-rennet mass and lower it into hot water for a period of 5 to 15 seconds. Here the cheese should reach such a consistency that it can be easily kneaded with your hands. Wearing gloves (to avoid burns), knead the heated part of the cheese and stretch it. Place in hot liquid and knead again.
This must be continued until the mass becomes smooth and elastic. Now you can mold it into the desired shape (a ball, for example) and place it in cold boiled water.
We repeat these steps with another amount of cheese and rennet mass. And then, the cooled mozzarella needs to be transferred to the cooled whey and sent to the refrigerator.
Dishes with mozzarella
Since mozzarella is an Italian cheese, then, of course, the most famous dishes in which this cheese is present are Italian dishes. Caprese salad is also especially popular. And they are quite easy to prepare, the main thing is to use detailed recipes.
Salad with mozzarella "Caprese"
Compound:
- ripe tomatoes – 2 pcs. medium size;
- olive oil -2 tablespoons;
- balsamic vinegar – 1 teaspoon;
- 12 green basil leaves;
- 150 g mozzarella cheese;
- freshly ground pepper - to taste;
- beautiful serving plate
Preparation:
To prepare a classic Caprese, washed tomatoes and cheese removed from brine must be cut into rings about 4 mm thick.
Sprinkle vinegar and oil on top, sprinkle with pepper and serve immediately.
Baked Caprese
Compound:
- 2 cups of cooked quinoa (the grain is quite exotic, but very healthy);
- 1 glass of spaghetti sauce;
- 2 tablespoons of tomato paste;
- a third of a glass of heavy cream;
- a third of a glass of grated Parmesan;
- 1 cup chopped mozzarella;
- 1 cup small tomatoes, cut in half;
- 1 large bunch of green basil;
- 0.5 teaspoon ground red pepper;
- a quarter teaspoon of salt;
- a quarter teaspoon of ground black pepper.
Preparation:
To prepare baked caprese in the oven, you need to heat the sauce, pasta, cream, Parmesan, salt and both types of pepper over the fire.
Remove from heat and stir in quinoa.
Tomatoes with mozzarella (half the specified amount), as well as 6 basil leaves are also added here.
Prepare a baking tray 21x23 cm (approximately) and grease it with vegetable oil. Place the prepared mixture here.
Scatter the remaining mozzarella slices and tomatoes on top.
Bake Caprese in the oven for about 15 minutes (temperature 180 degrees). The cheese should become golden. 
After this, remove the dish from the oven, garnish with basil sprigs, wait 5 minutes and serve.
Crispbread with mozzarella
These round breads filled with cheese not only look appetizing, but also cook very quickly.
Required ingredients:
For 8 loaves of bread you will need:
- 450 g ready-made;
- 120 g mozzarella, cut into 2.5 cm cubes;
- 4 tablespoons of butter, melted;
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning;
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder. It can be prepared by drying chopped pieces of garlic in the oven. After the garlic has dried, it is crushed in a coffee grinder;
- 0.5 teaspoon of salt;
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Preparation:
First you need to preheat the oven to 200 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by greasing it with vegetable oil.
Roll out the dough and cut into squares larger than the mozzarella cubes. You need to put cheese in each square and pinch the edges well, forming a kind of ball.
In this form, future breads should be placed on a baking sheet, with the edges pinched down.
Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. The bread should be slightly browned, but should not be too dry.
While baking the dough, you need to prepare the sauce. To do this, add seasonings, garlic powder and salt to the melted butter.
As soon as you take the bread out of the oven, you should immediately brush it with sauce using a silicone brush.
It is best to serve the cheese balls hot, sprinkled with parsley.
Mini croissants with sausage and mozzarella
This option is perfect as a quick breakfast for school or work.
To prepare them you will need:
- 230 grams;
- 4 mozzarella cheese sticks;
- 100 g salami sausage;
- garlic sauce, the preparation process of which is described in the recipe for mozzarella bread.
Preparation:
First you need to preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Roll out the dough and cut into long triangles, on the edge of which you need to place about 6 pieces of thinly sliced sausage.
Place a mozzarella stick on top of the sausage and wrap the dough triangle into a croissant shape.
In this form, mini-croissants should be placed on a baking sheet greased with vegetable oil, seam side down.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.
After the croissants have browned, they need to be removed from the oven and brushed with garlic sauce.
Cutlets with mozzarella
Required ingredients:
For minced meat:
450 g beef;
450 g salami;
0.5 teaspoon garlic powder;
2 teaspoons salt;
1 teaspoon black pepper;
a quarter cup of grated Parmesan;
2 eggs;
0.5 cups of fat milk;
0.5 cups chopped parsley
For filling:
mozzarella cheese
For breading:
1 cup breadcrumbs
Preparation:
Grind the sausage and beef into a meat grinder and mix with all the necessary ingredients for minced meat. This mass needs to be beaten well with your hands.
After this, you need to roll the minced meat into balls, flatten them, put chopped mozzarella on each piece and form a cutlet so that the cheese is only inside.
Make sure that the cheese is well hidden in the minced meat, otherwise it will leak out during frying.
After the cutlets are formed, they need to be generously rolled in breadcrumbs and fried under the lid.
Quick mini pizza with mozzarella
Compound:
- 450 g minced beef;
- 3 chopped garlic cloves;
- 2 cups chopped parsley;
- pepper and salt to taste;
- 1 glass of refined oil (preferably olive);
- 1 can of sauce, preferably “Marinara”;
- 50 g butter;
- 4 slices of white bread;
- 4 slices of mozzarella;
- 200 g salami, cut into thin slices
Preparation:
Make a cutlet mass from minced meat, garlic, parsley, pepper and salt. Divide it into 4 parts and form cutlets. Fry them in a frying pan for 6 minutes on each side. Place on a paper towel.
Separately, in a frying pan, you need to heat the sauce.
In another frying pan, melt the butter and add garlic, fry for 1 minute, and then, here, fry the pieces of bread.
Then you need to heat the oven, and place semi-finished products on a greased baking sheet in the following order: bread, minced meat, mozzarella, salami.
Bake until sausage is crispy (about 3 minutes).
Sprinkle the finished mini-pizza with parsley and serve.
Many housewives use cheese products, which have excellent taste, when preparing various delicacies. Today we will talk about what similar dishes can be made.
What it is?
Mozzarella is a special type of Italian cheese. Initially, it was prepared from buffalo milk, but later cow milk was used for it. As a rule, the product is sold in the form of balls, which can be of various sizes.
When preparing Mozzarella cheese, it is placed in a special brine. The cheese dish does not last long. Many housewives note that it has a delicate and piquant taste and an unusual consistency. From this dairy product you can create many different delicacies.
Hot dishes
Currently, there are many different recipes for hot dishes that can be prepared with Italian cheese.
Potato casserole with Mozzarella
Vegetables are completely peeled and cut into small cubes. They are placed in a container anointed with oil (2-3 tablespoons). At the same time, finely chop the basil leaves and chop a few garlic heads. This can be done using a blender.
Potato cubes are mixed with basil, garlic and salt (add to taste). Then they are left to brew for a while. Then the vegetables in the container are placed in the oven for 30 minutes. It should be heated to a temperature of 180°C.
At the same time, cut the tomatoes into rings and grate the Mozzarella cheese. These prepared ingredients are sprinkled over the potatoes in a bowl. After this, the dish is left in the oven to bake for another 10-15 minutes.
Chicken fillet meatballs with Mozzarella cheese
First you need to make a mass of minced meat. To do this, chicken meat is passed through a meat grinder. You also need to take bread (you can take either white bread or a loaf). It is placed in a container and soaked briefly in cream to soften it.
After this, the softened bread is mixed in a container with minced meat and one broken egg. From the resulting mass you need to make several cakes. A small ball of Mozzarella is placed in the center of each of them.
Then make one large ball using all these ingredients. Then they should be completely rolled in breadcrumbs. The dish is placed in an oiled frying pan and fried until a golden brown crust forms on it.
Omelet with tomatoes and mozzarella
To prepare this dish, you need to break several eggs (2-3 pieces) and mix them in a frying pan with ground black pepper and salt. Before doing this, do not forget to lightly grease the dishes with butter.
Place tomatoes cut into rings into the frying pan along with the eggs. After 15-20 seconds, add Mozzarella and chopped basil leaves to the bowl. Later, remove everything from the heat and wait for the dish to cool a little. Then it is poured with olive oil and served.
Bakery
Cheese from Italy is often used to prepare various baked goods.
Pies with salami and mozzarella
To make this dish, you need to place tomatoes cut into rings on a baking sheet. They are additionally sprayed with olive oil again.
Vegetables are placed in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Before this, it should be heated to 160°C. In this case, the tomatoes should turn out soft, but not falling apart. At the same time, cut the salami into thin strips.
At the same time, finely chop the garlic heads. They can even be passed through a special press. The pre-prepared dough is cut into several rectangular pieces.
Salami and tomatoes cut into strips are placed in the center of each piece of dough. At the end, grated cheese and a garlic mixture with herbs are placed there. The edges of the dough are connected to form a small envelope.
You should also break one egg and beat it. The resulting mixture is greased with each of the pies. Place parchment on a baking sheet. Before this, it is lubricated with olive oil.
The baking tray with pies is sent to the oven to cook. Before this, it is heated to a temperature of 170°C. You need to leave the dish there for at least half an hour.
Croissants with Mozzarella and sausage
Such pastries can be made even for a holiday table. To begin, the oven chamber is heated to a temperature of 180°C. The dough prepared in advance is rolled out and cut into triangular pieces.
For each piece of dough, place several thinly sliced sausage slices (5-6 pieces). Then they put a little Mozzarella there. The triangles are wrapped to form croissants.
Place the prepared croissants on a baking sheet greased with vegetable or olive oil. It is placed in a preheated oven and baked for 12-15 minutes.
Wait for the dish to brown a little. After that, take it out and pour garlic sauce over it.
Mini pizza with Mozzarella cheese
To prepare such a pizza, you need to make a homogeneous mass from ready-made minced chicken, chopped garlic heads and herbs. The resulting mixture is divided into four equal parts.
These parts are fried in a frying pan on both sides. This should be done within a few minutes. After this, the dish is laid out on thick paper or a napkin.
Refined vegetable oil (1 cup) is poured into a separate frying pan. Chopped garlic is added to it. It's all fried. Then add a few slices of bread (4 slices of white bread) to these ingredients.
Bread slices are laid out on a baking sheet, and masses made from minced meat, salami and Mozzarella are placed on them. Bake all this until the sausage is slightly crispy. This will take a few minutes. Sprinkle chopped parsley onto the resulting mini-pizza and serve.
Salads and snacks
Today there are a huge number of different delicious salads prepared with Italian Mozzarella cheese.
Salad with sun-dried tomatoes and cheese
You need to cut one large tomato into half rings. Each tomato piece is greased with vegetable oil. After this, the vegetables are placed in a baking dish.
Place cherry tomatoes (11-13 pieces) in a bowl next to regular tomatoes. Vegetables are poured with sauce. To prepare it, you need to place in one container a little olive oil (1/4 tablespoon), balsamic vinegar (1 tablespoon), garlic juice, granulated sugar (2 tablespoons), salt.
The oven chamber is heated to a temperature of 170°C. A baking sheet with vegetables and sauce is placed in it. At the same time, chop Mozzarella (200 grams), basil and parsley.
The tomatoes are taken out of the oven. They are mixed in one bowl with cheese and herbs. It is recommended to do this in layers.
Salad with Mozzarella cheese and arugula
To make this salad, you need to cut four large tomatoes into rings. You should also chop the cheese mass (500 grams). At the same time, the sauce is being prepared.
To make the sauce, you need to grind the basil leaves in a blender. The resulting mass is mixed with balsamic vinegar (two tablespoons), olive oil (30 milliliters) and salt.
The prepared filling is poured over Mozzarella and tomatoes. Arugula is placed on top. And they do it with whole leaves, not sliced. After this, the salad is served to the table.
Salad with strawberries and cheese
Strawberries (150 grams) must be washed and cut into small equal slices. At the same time, four of these are left and placed later in a blender to form a porridge-like strawberry mass. It is used as a sauce.
Later, cheese (150 grams) is cut into slices. 70 grams of arugula torn by hand are placed in a bowl. Mixed pieces of Mozzarella and berries are placed on top.
Berry sauce is combined with olive oil (one tablespoon), balsamic vinegar, pepper and salt. The resulting salad is poured with this liquid. After this, it is ready to eat.
Salad with champignons and mozzarella
Chicken breast (0.1 kilogram) should be cut into slices and fried in olive or vegetable oil in a frying pan. Separately, cut the mushrooms into strips (5-7 pieces). They should also be placed in a frying pan to fry.
Cut some cucumbers and tomatoes into rings. Mix the prepared ingredients with each other and the cheese in a separate container. Season them with squeezed fresh lemon juice, ground black pepper and salt. You can add a couple of bunches of arugula for taste.
Salad with crayfish tails and cheese
Tear a few lettuce leaves. The pieces should be the same size. At the same time, take cucumbers (2 pieces), peel them and cut into strips.
In a separate pan, cook the crayfish tails (20 pieces). Remove all their shells. The finished ingredient is placed on top of the cucumber pulp.
Mozzarella (0.1 kilogram) is cut into small rings.
It is also acceptable to use simply grated Italian cheese. The components are covered with mayonnaise and salt and ground pepper are poured into it.
Salad with Mozzarella and mango
Mango (one piece) is peeled and its pulp is cut into small cubes. They also shred cheese (100 grams). For the dish you also need to chop the leeks. They do this in half rings.
Grind some chili pepper. It is this ingredient that can add piquancy to the future salad. But adding such a product is not at all necessary.
Tomatoes are also cut into cubes. Along with this, you should make a filling for the delicacy. In a separate clean cup, combine olive oil (3 tablespoons), soy sauce (2 tablespoons), lemon juice (2 tablespoons), pepper and salt. The components of the product are mixed and poured over with a pre-made pour.
Salad with cheese and shrimp
You need to put the shrimp in a saucepan to cook (0.2 kilograms). Moreover, it’s better to take only small ones, because then you won’t have to cut them. And the delicacy will look much more beautiful.
Cut Mozzarella (0.2 kg) into small circles. Take cherry tomatoes (200 grams) and chop them into two halves. At the same time, remove the peel from two avocados. Chop their pulp into slices.
For the salad, you should prepare the sauce. To make it, you need to combine capers (1 tablespoon), olive oil (5 tablespoons), and salt in one container. The resulting product is used to season the salad ingredients.
Salad with cod liver, cheese mixture and quail eggs
Fish liver (250 grams) is crushed. At the same time, boil the quail eggs and separate them into equal halves. Both ingredients are mixed together.
Mozzarella, pre-cut into cubes, and chopped green onions are added to the resulting mixture. After this, prepare the salad sauce. To make it, you need to mix oil (you should use olive oil), fresh lemon juice, salt and spicy seasonings in a separate container. This mass is poured into products.
In addition to salads, many people prepare all sorts of delicious snacks with this dairy product.
Bruschetta with Mozzarella and strawberries
To prepare this Italian appetizer, you need to cut the cheese and strawberries into small cubes. Toast the bread in the toaster. Next, grease them with butter and sprinkle with pepper.
Cheese made with goat's milk is evenly applied to each piece of bread. It is recommended to do this in a thin layer. Top with Mozzarella and strawberry cubes. Sprinkle hand torn basil leaves over the appetizer.
Mozzarella in breadcrumbs
Pour breadcrumbs (three tablespoons), black pepper, salt, finely chopped garlic heads into a container. Some people also recommend adding chili pepper. These ingredients are mixed.
Mozzarella is cut with sticks. They are rolled in a mixture of breadcrumbs and fried in a frying pan with olive oil all over the surface.
The appetizer is usually served with lettuce and various sauces.
Figs with Mozzarella balls and ham
To prepare this appetizer, you need to cut the figs into cubes. It is better to chop the sausage into thin slices. Prepare skewers made of wood in advance.
First, cheese balls are threaded onto skewers. Then slices of ham and figs are placed there. Place the resulting snack on a separate plate and sprinkle black pepper on top.
They are topped with tomato sauce. Top with sliced Mozzarella cheese and halved cherry tomatoes. All this is peppered and baked in the oven for about 10 minutes. After this, the dish is covered with basil and served.
To learn how to prepare a delicious salad with Mozzarella cheese, watch the following video.
Mozzarella) is a soft young cheese from southern Italy. In local cuisine, mozzarella is most often used in pizza, fresh salads, appetizers (caprese), casseroles, lasagna and pasta.
Many Italian dishes, especially pizza, are unthinkable without this cheese. It is mozzarella that has the ideal neutral taste and a specific structure, due to which the cheese stretches slightly when you take a ready-made portion of hot pizza. Thanks to mozzarella, a closed Italian pie calzone so delicious and a signature Italian appetizer caprese It just wouldn't have been born. But the main thank you should be given to the black buffaloes, whose milk the hardworking Italians used as the basis for this wonderful, tasty cheese.
History of mozzarella
The first written mention of mozzarella can be seen in the cookbook of Bartolomeo Scappi, the famous Italian chef of the Renaissance. In his book Opera, published in 1570 and including more than 1,000 recipes, there is a line: “cream, fresh butter, ricotta cheese, fresh mozzarella and milk.” We must assume that Bartolomeo wrote about mozzarella as a common product of his day, which means that cheese was invented much earlier.
Mozzarella) is a modified combination of words from the Neapolitan dialect. Mozza means to cut, and mozzare- cut off, which hints at the technological process of producing this cheese.
How to make mozzarella
The milk is fermented with a special cheese culture, and sometimes a rennet element is added. After which the finished mass, similar to yogurt, is heated and stirred until the whey is separated, which is drained. The resulting elastic mass is kneaded by hand until it becomes a stiff dough and pieces of the desired size are cut off, placing them in a cold saline solution. By the way, whey, which remains in abundance after the production of mozzarella, is used to prepare another famous Italian cheese - ricotta.
Types and forms of mozzarella
Mozzarella is usually found in the form of irregular balls. Bocconcini are large balls the size of an egg, chilengi are balls the size of a large cherry, perlini are very small. Mozzarella is sometimes sold in the form of a braid (treccia) or large balls 7-10 cm in diameter. Traditionally, mozzarella is sold in a liquid in which balls of cheese float freely. The exception is mozzarella in a braid and hard mozzarella in a large ball.
It is believed that mozzarella in a large ball without brine is intended for baking, in fact, any mozzarella can be baked, but in brine the cheese is more tender and tastier, and large and dry cheese is simply lower class, which automatically narrows its use.
What to cook with mozzarella
First of all, we recommend preparing cold appetizers and salads with mozzarella. It requires no heat and cooks very quickly. The easiest way to prepare a salad is from fresh vegetables and herbs, adding a little mozzarella, olives and seasoning with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. This classic of Mediterranean cuisine has not become outdated over the centuries and is very appropriate during the hot season. Be sure to try the caprese appetizer salad: this is a light appetizer of tomato slices, pieces of mozzarella and basil leaves, seasoned with olive oil, black pepper and sea salt. Prepares in a minute and can be served for breakfast or with a glass of wine. Don't forget to add slices of fresh wheat bread to your caprese!
Mozzarella is one of the main cheeses used in traditional pizza. Naples, as the birthplace and capital of Italian pizza, is also the main city of the Campania region, where mozzarella began to be produced. It is not clear what was the root cause - either the pizzaoli always wanted cheese for pizza with such wonderful properties, or mozzarella made an ordinary flatbread with pizza filling in the usual sense, but the fact that mozzarella is ideal for pizza is an undeniable fact.
Try different styles of pizza: layer the cheese on top of the sauce but under the toppings to tie all the ingredients together, or layer mozzarella on top of the toppings to dress up the pizza. Don't forget that mozzarella is an unleavened cheese, and if you didn't add salty ingredients, you should add a little salt to the pizza before baking.
A classic Italian calzone is made with mozzarella. This pie is somewhat reminiscent of a cheburek, but actually, it’s the same pizza, only folded in half. There are many types and styles of calzones, but mozzarella is the most commonly used cheese in calzones.
Lasagna is sometimes prepared with mozzarella. Lasagna is flat sheets of pasta, “pasta paper,” layered with filling (cheese, minced meat, vegetables, mushrooms), covered in sauce and baked in the oven or oven. Mozzarella plays the role of a connecting link here, connecting the tastes of all components. An extremely nourishing and tasty dish that is easy to prepare, has a “signature” look and is included in the menu of many restaurants around the world.
With mozzarella you can prepare casseroles, various vegetable, meat, mushroom dishes “with cheese”, add them to dishes “in pots”, to baked or fried vegetables. Here you need to follow one simple rule: if the cheese is part of the filling or is inside the dish, then you can add it along with the rest of the ingredients, and if the cheese is placed on top, then this should be done 5-10 minutes before it is ready. The fact is that mozzarella melts very quickly, and prolonged heat dries out the cheese and worsens its taste.
Recipes with mozzarella
Caprese
This is a light snack originally from the island of Capri. The combination of colors in this dish matches the colors of the Italian flag, and caprese is considered the national Italian dish. Ideally, the mozzarella should be made from buffalo milk, the tomatoes should be of the oxheart variety, and the olive oil should not be bitter. Capri is a kind of Mediterranean Eden for the Russian intelligentsia. At different times, Leonid Andreev, Ivan Bunin, Maxim Gorky, Vladimir Lenin, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Konstantin Paustovsky, Konstantin Stanislavsky, Ivan Turgenev and Pyotr Tchaikovsky lived on Capri. So the cuisine of Capri is dear to us, at least through the spirit of the works of Russian classics.
Ingredients:
Tomatoes,
Basil,
Olive oil,
Black pepper, salt.
Preparation:
Arrange tomato slices in a circle, top with a piece of mozzarella and cover each slice with a basil leaf. Drizzle with olive oil, pepper and salt. Caprese is an ideal appetizer for light dry wine.
This very tasty and simple Neapolitan pizza, according to legend, was first prepared in honor of the wife of the King of Italy, Margaret of Savoy in 1889. The colors of the pizza symbolize the colors of the Italian flag. Margherita was very impressed by the look of the pizza, and since then pizza has gone from being a poor man's food to becoming the national pride of Italy.
Ingredients:
Pizza dough,
Tomato sauce,
Tomatoes,
Basil leaves,
Black pepper,
Salt.
Preparation:
Roll out a thin pancake from yeast dough. Brush with tomato sauce, place tomato slices and scatter mozzarella on top. Pepper and salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 230 degrees or 7-12 minutes at 270 degrees. Garnish the finished pizza with green basil leaves.
Lasagna is thin sheets of pasta folded with a filling like a cake. The filling for lasagna can be anything, but the presence of cheese, sauce and sheets of pasta remains unchanged. You can supplement the vegetables with minced meat or finely chopped pieces of chicken, change the composition of the vegetables or replace the sauce with tomato.
Ingredients:
Ready-made lasagna sheets,
For the bechamel sauce:
50 g butter,
50 g flour,
500 ml milk.
For filling:
1-2 zucchini,
1 onion,
200 g minced meat,
200 g mozzarella,
150 g grated parmesan.
Preparation:
Preparing bechamel:
Let the milk warm up, but do not bring it to a boil!
Melt the butter, add flour, stirring constantly.
Add milk to the butter and flour mixture in small portions, stirring constantly until smooth.
At this stage, preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Preparing the filling:
Fry the diced onion.
Add minced meat and fry for a couple of minutes.
Add the diced zucchini and fry everything for 5-7 minutes.
Assembling lasagna:
Grease the mold with butter.
Place a small layer of filling, a little bechamel sauce and cover with a sheet of pasta.
Again a layer of filling, pieces of mozzarella and grated parmesan, a little sauce. Cover with a sheet of pasta.
Another layer of filling, sauce, mozzarella and parmesan. And again a sheet of pasta.
Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan. Pour the remaining sauce around the edges.
Bake for 35-40 minutes at 180 degrees.
Lasagna goes well with wine and is a hearty and delicious dish.
Mozzarella goes well with many foods; it is a versatile cheese, well suited for cold appetizers, salads, pizza and casseroles.
Mozzarella recipes with photos on the website are posted in the Italian cuisine section. Mozzarella cheese has a very distinctive taste due to the way it is prepared. This is taken into account in recipes for preparing dishes with mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella is a fresh cheese, soft, not boiled, made from whole buffalo milk (“mozzarella di bufala”) or cow’s milk. Often the balls are filled with brine with herbs. The homeland of cheese is the region of Campania, where buffalo have been bred for centuries in the vicinity of Milan.
To stuff potatoes according to this recipe, the tubers are first baked until tender, then cut in half and filled with baked vegetables. The resulting stuffed potato boats are covered with mozzarella cheese and put back in the oven so that the cheese
chapter: Potato dishes
Pizza roll is slightly different in taste from regular pizza because the filling is inside, between the layers of dough, and not on the outside, as in the classic recipe. But it is more convenient to divide this pizza into portions. Pizza dough can be prepared in advance and stored in
chapter: Pizza
Even if you, like me, are a bit of a fan of decorating salads with vegetable roses, it’s hard to resist a black and white gang of penguins on your plate. The snack not only looks funny, but also tastes good, because... combines salty olives, young
chapter: Cottage cheese and cottage cheese snacks
The most ordinary pizza can be decorated to serve as a holiday dish. One such option is to shape the pizza into a wreath. You can choose the dough and filling according to your taste. In this recipe I made pizza dough from whole wheat flour.
chapter: Italian Cuisine
The recipe for a hot eggplant appetizer with mozzarella cheese is simple. The dish can be prepared and decorated for serving, even if you only have 60 minutes left before your guests arrive. The main thing is to quickly cut the eggplants into slices and lightly bake them in the oven, pre
chapter: Eggplant Recipes
A focaccia recipe in case you find yourself at home without bread on a beautiful Sunday evening. You can spend very little time to bake an amazing Italian focaccia with mozzarella. Focaccia is an Italian national dish similar to pizza.
chapter: Focaccia
Stromboli is a pizza roll, the recipe for which was invented by the Americans. In this version of a closed pizza, we prepare the filling from chicken breast with sweet bell pepper and two types of cheese - mozzarella and parmesan. After proofing, the yeast dough is noticeably
chapter: Italian Cuisine
Probably few people have cooked pizza with potatoes. It turned out to be delicious! The recipe is an interesting combination of a thin pizza crust with a generous layer of potato filling with sautéed onions, herbs, thin slices of ham and mozzarella. Of those listed in p
chapter: Italian Cuisine
A convenient option for closed pizza that you can eat right away or take with you on the road, to work or to school. The combination of filling products can be changed to suit your taste. This recipe has a simple pizza topping - mozzarella, tomatoes and herbs.
chapter: Pizza
Stromboli pizza is actually not an Italian cuisine, but an American one. The recipe for rolled pizza was invented in Philadelphia and named after the 50s film Stromboli, which takes place on the volcano island of the same name.
chapter: Pizza
Lasagna made from pancakes with meat filling, cottage cheese and tomato sauce turns out even tastier than regular lasagna. Lasagna pancakes are made from dough and water. They turn out thin, delicate and somewhat paler than milk pancakes. This recipe can be
chapter: Italian Cuisine
A thin crust pizza recipe with chicken and pineapple will appeal to those who love the combination of meat and fruit. The chicken breast must first be boiled or baked, and then cut into thin slices. It is better to take canned pineapple into slices
chapter: Italian Cuisine
Crazy pizza is not a very ordinary recipe for making regular pizza with filling (topping). The filling is mixed directly into the dough. Therefore, after baking, you get something between a pizza and a pie, and you can make the thickness of the pizza according to your own preferences.
chapter: Italian Cuisine
Fruit and vegetable salad with soft cheese will appeal to experimental cooks who do not like monotony. The recipe can be changed according to your taste and availability of products. For example, if there are no plums, you can take grapes and replace peaches with melon. Do not want
chapter: Cheese salads
Potatoes for casserole are cut into thin slices and alternated with ham and cheese. Separately, fry the mushrooms with bacon - this will be the filling of our potato casserole. It turns out very tasty, despite the simplicity of the recipe.
chapter: Potato casseroles
Mushroom filling is one of the most popular fillings when preparing rolls from ready-made phyllo dough. This recipe for strudel with chanterelles and mozzarella cheese describes in detail the sequence of preparing the delicious pastry of their thin crispy dough with soy sauce.
chapter: Banica
Potatoes stuffed with cheese and crab sticks “Snow Crab” VIČI can be served as an appetizer or as a separate dish for lunch or dinner. In addition to the stuffed potatoes, you can prepare a vegetable salad.
chapter: From various seafood
A simple and harmonious salad that will be an excellent light dinner. It is prepared in a matter of minutes, looks impressive and bright. To prepare this salad, take only fresh vegetables and soft pickled cheese.
chapter: Eggplant salad
VIČI crab sticks in dough are eaten immediately, hot, or allowed to cool. It’s delicious this way and that. You can take the snack with you on picnics or put it in your lunch box for a snack afterwards, garnished with, for example, a vegetable salad.
chapter: Crab stick appetizers
We are accustomed to setting the holiday table in the old fashioned way with hearty salads with mayonnaise and other high-calorie foods, although the fashion for such things has long passed. Minimalism is popular now, not only in the domestic sphere of our lives, but also in cooking. It's time to switch to small portions of foods that are healthy for the human body. We suggest you start changing your diet by preparing salads with a very unusual but healthy mozzarella cheese. In this article we will present you the best recipes with photos of mozzarella salads.
In every supermarket you can buy mozzarella - an Italian cheese made from cow and buffalo milk. Until now, no one knows the recipe for making this cheese in the classic version. Many chefs try to reproduce something similar to mozzarella based on their own taste sensations, but in fact they only get a variation.
Real Italian cheese can be bought either in Italy or in stores that sell this product. There is no shortage of mozzarella; the cheese is widely available, so it is used in the preparation of various dishes. The fact is that mozzarella is a soft cheese that melts easily, so you can cook anything from it.
Mozzarella is a healthy food product because it contains many useful substances that quickly penetrate the blood plasma and trigger metabolic processes in all cells of internal organs. The cheese was found to contain:
- niacin and calcium
- riboflavin and iodine
- thiamine and amino acids
- biotin and molybdenum
- vitamins A, D, E, B5 and B6, which promote better absorption of calcium by the body
- magnesium and sodium
- gland
- omega-3 and omega-6
Mozzarella is a fairly high-calorie product. 100 g contains 216 calories. Therefore, it is not recommended to eat this cheese in large doses, otherwise it will negatively affect your figure. It is enough to eat 3 balls a day to ensure protection against the following diseases:
- rheumatism
- breast and colon cancer
- osteoporosis
- hypertension
- gout
- migraine
- blood and bone problems
Mozzarella is usually sold in the form of small balls (each ball is 28 g) in special bags containing brine. But it is perfectly acceptable to use other types of mozzarella. We will look at exactly how mozzarella is used in different salad recipes.
Salad recipe with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes
One of the most common mozzarella salads is made with cherry tomatoes. The dish looks very neat and, at the same time, appetizing, while it has a refined taste.
To prepare this salad, you need to do the following:
- Cut 200 g mozzarella into pieces. In this case, it is not necessary to choose a type of cheese that comes in balls.
- Wash 200 g of cherry tomatoes and cut each fruit in half.
- Boil 200 g of shrimp. It doesn’t matter what they are - you can choose the smallest ones, which are sold already peeled, or you can buy the royal ones.
- Take 2 avocados and peel them. You need to cut the flesh of the fruit in exactly the same way as you cut the mozzarella.
- Prepare the sauce: mix 4 tbsp. olive oil and freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon. Salt, pepper and other spices are added at your own discretion.
- Mix all the prepared ingredients in one bowl, pour the dressing over the salad and serve it to the table, after placing hand-torn lettuce leaves on the bottom of the plate.
- Basil leaves can be used as a garnish for a dish.
Salad recipe with mozzarella and sun-dried or baked tomatoes
Fans of spicy salads will appreciate the recipe, which uses dried or baked fruits instead of fresh tomatoes. This salad is very simple and easy to prepare.
Below we will provide you with step-by-step instructions on what you need to do to make the dish taste amazing:
- Take 1 large tomato, cut it into half rings. Brush each tomato slice with olive oil and place on a baking sheet.
- Place cherry tomatoes on a baking sheet next to the regular tomato pieces. You will need 10-12 of them.
- Pour the sauce over the tomatoes on the baking sheet. It is very easy to prepare: mix 1/4 tbsp. olive oil with 1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, juice squeezed from 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp. sugar and salt to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C and bake the tomatoes for 40 minutes.
- While the tomatoes are cooking, cut 200 g of mozzarella into slices and chop the basil and parsley (use 20 g of each type of herb).
- Remove the tomatoes from the oven, form a salad - lay out the cheese and tomatoes in layers, sprinkle with herbs on top.
Salad recipe with arugula and mozzarella
Literally in 10 minutes. you can prepare a dietary version of the salad with mozzarella and arugula. All you need for this is fresh vegetables, herbs, cheese and some spices.
We present you a simple recipe for this salad:
- Take 4 tomatoes. Wash them and cut them into slices. Cut 500 g of mozzarella in exactly the same way.
- Prepare the sauce: grind 1 bunch of basil in a blender, mix the resulting slurry with 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 30 ml olive oil and salt to taste.
- The resulting sauce should be poured over the tomatoes and mozzarella.
- Whole leaves of arugula are placed on top of the vegetables.
Italian salad with mozzarella
In Italian restaurants, people most often order caprese mozzarella salad as an appetizer - this is a simple combination of products similar to what we described in the recipe above. Only for this salad the sauce is prepared in a special way.
So, how to prepare Caprese salad:
- First of all, prepare the sauce: pour 2 tbsp into the pan. balsamic vinegar and put it on fire. The vinegar should be simmered until it thickens very well. This will take 20 minutes after it boils.
- Remove the vinegar from the heat and let it cool.
- While the sauce is cooling, prepare the other ingredients:
- cut 3 large tomatoes into rings
- cut 360 g of mozzarella in exactly the same way
- Place the food on the salad bowl so that the tomatoes and cheese alternate in 2 rows. Place 2 basil leaves between each slice of cheese and tomato.
- Top the salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Shrimp and mozzarella salad recipe
We described a variation of a delicious salad with mozzarella and shrimp in the very first recipe for a dish with cherry tomatoes. The recipe below is somewhat similar, but this salad brings out more of the Mediterranean flavors of the cheese and shrimp, and the tomatoes only complement that flavor.
How to prepare this salad:
- Boil 200 g of shrimp. It's better to use small shrimp so you don't have to cut them. This way the dish will look much more attractive and appetizing.
- Cut 200 g of mozzarella into slices and cut the same number of cherry tomatoes in half.
- Peel 2 avacados and cut their flesh into slices.
- Mix all the above ingredients in one bowl, and then pour it over the sauce made from:
- juice of half a lime
- 1 tbsp. capers
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- Place green salad leaves on the bottom of the presentation plate and garnish the dish with basil leaves.
Greek salad with mozzarella
Typically, Greek salad is prepared with feta cheese, but the dish has a no less rich and pleasant taste if you use Italian cheese instead of traditional cheese.
We present to you the recipe for a delicious Greek salad:
- Take 3 large cucumbers. Wash them and cut them into cubes.
- In the same way, you need to chop 6 medium tomatoes and 2 bell peppers.
- Chop 1 onion into half rings. If it is very bitter, then pour boiling water over it.
- Peel 25 olives and press them with a knife so that they acquire a slightly flattened shape.
- Chop a bunch of any greens that you are used to eating.
- Cut 250 g mozzarella into cubes.
- Squeeze the juice from half a lemon.
- Mix all the ingredients in one container, pour lemon juice over the salad, and also add:
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste
- dried oregano (literally a pinch)
Mozzarella and chicken salad recipe
A salad with mozzarella turns out to be very satisfying if you add boiled chicken fillet as an additional ingredient. The dish turns out juicy, tender and very tasty, because the cheese melting in your mouth perfectly complements the taste of tender chicken.
How to prepare this salad:
- Boil 1 chicken breast and 15 quail eggs.
- Buy croutons from a white loaf or prepare them yourself in this way:
- cut the loaf into small pieces
- preheat oven to 250°C
- Sprinkle the bread slices with vegetable oil and place them in the oven for 5 minutes.
- Cut the boiled eggs in half, and tear the chicken fillet into fibers with your hands.
- Cut 200 g mozzarella into pieces.
- Mix all the ingredients in a salad bowl, adding the contents of one can of canned corn.
- Season the salad with low-fat mayonnaise and serve.
Mozzarella and Avocado Salad Recipe
Those watching their figure will find this simple recipe for salad with mozzarella and avocado useful. There is nothing meaty or fatty in it - only vegetables and Italian cheese.
How to prepare this salad:
- Take 2 avocados. Remove the seeds from them, peel the fruits, and then cut the pulp into pieces.
- In exactly the same way, chop 2 large tomatoes and 200 g of mozzarella. If you prefer cherry tomatoes, use them.
- Mix all the ingredients in one container and then add the following spices to the salad:
- salt and pepper to taste
- a pinch of dried basil
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
Strawberry and mozzarella salad recipe
Strawberries and mozzarella taste perfectly combined. If you are a gourmet or like to eat light snacks, then you will love the salad recipe that we present to you below:
- Wash 150 g of strawberries. It is advisable that all the berries are the same size, so the salad will look more attractive. Cut the strawberries into equal slices.
- Leave 4 berries whole. Place them in a blender and puree until smooth. We will use strawberry pulp as a sauce.
- Cut 150 g of mozzarella into the same slices as the strawberries.
- Place 70 g of hand-torn arugula on the bottom of a presentation plate.
- Place mixed strawberries and cheese on top of the greens.
- Mix strawberry sauce with:
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- same amount of balsamic vinegar
- salt and pepper to taste
- Pour the sauce over the salad and serve it to the table.
Vegetable salad recipe with mozzarella
If it is not possible to purchase some exotic ingredient for mozzarella salad, you can use the simplest vegetables. With Italian cheese, simple cucumbers and tomatoes will sparkle with new colors. And if you season them with unusual spices, you will get an incredibly delicious salad that will please everyone in your household.
How to prepare vegetable salad with mozzarella:
- First prepare the green salad leaves. You need to tear 1 bunch with your hands.
- Cut 2 tomatoes and cucumber into equal cubes. Grind 100 g of Italian cheese in exactly the same way.
- Prepare salad dressing. Mix 3 tbsp. olive oil with 1 tbsp. liquid honey, the same amount of sesame seeds, 1 tsp. lemon juice, mustard and herbs de Provence to taste.
- Pour the sauce over the salad and serve the dish.
Pasta salad with mozzarella
Mozzarella salad can be prepared as an independent full-fledged dish, rather than an appetizer. Below we will present you a recipe that uses pasta as the main ingredient. This recipe is not suitable for overweight people.
What you need to do to prepare this salad:
- First, prepare the sauce for the future salad. Grind 1 tbsp in a blender. capers, mixing them with 1 clove of garlic, 2 tbsp. wine vinegar, 6 tbsp. olive oil and 100 g dried tomatoes.
- Boil 500 g of any pasta. It should not be completely cooked, but be a little hard. Mix the finished pasta with the sauce.
- Once the paste has cooled, add:
- 1 tbsp. hard mozzarella cheese (grate it on a coarse grater)
- basil leaves
- 1/2 tbsp. pitted olives
- fresh tomato cut into small slices
- Mix all ingredients and then serve.
Salad with mango and mozzarella
Juicy and sweet mangoes can be used not only in the process of making desserts. For example, you can add it to a mozzarella salad. The result is a dish whose taste you will never forget.
How to prepare such an unusual salad:
- Peel 1 mango and cut the pulp into cubes.
- Cut 100 g of mozzarella in exactly the same way.
- Cut half the leek into half rings.
- Grind a small piece of chili pepper very finely. We need it to add some spice to the salad. If it's too spicy for you, you can omit this ingredient.
- Cut 2 medium-sized tomatoes into cubes, like other products.
- Let's move on to preparing the sauce. Mix into a homogeneous mixture:
- 3 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1 tbsp. soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- Mix all the ingredients and season them with the resulting sauce.
Tuna and mozzarella salad recipe
Salad with tuna and mozzarella is a storehouse of vitamins and beneficial microelements for the human body. It is prepared quickly, but the ingredients for it are quite expensive. If this is a minor issue for you, then we share the recipe (the number of ingredients is indicated for 1 person):
- Take 4 leaves of green lettuce and tear it carefully with your hands
- Dice 1 large tomato and 100 g mozzarella
- Fry 4 pieces of tuna in a frying pan; by the way, you can also use canned fish
- Take 6 pcs. olives, remove the pits and add to the salad
- Prepare the sauce: mix lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste, you can also add herbs
Salad recipe with mussels, pine nuts and mozzarella
If you want to immerse yourself in the world of Italy and enjoy the taste of Mediterranean cuisine, then prepare a salad with mussels, pine nuts and mozzarella for a romantic dinner. It will go great with white wine.
How to prepare this salad (the number of ingredients is indicated for 2 persons):
- Fry 100 g of mussels and 50 g of squid rings in a frying pan.
- Cut 100 g mozzarella and 8 cherry tomatoes into rings.
- Prepare salad dressing. Mix:
- 10 ml soy sauce
- 10 ml olive oil
- Provencal herbs
- Pour the sauce over the salad and top it with 50 g of pine nuts and arugula. You will need 100 g of this greenery.
- At the end, pepper and salt the dish at your own discretion.
Salad recipe with champignons and mozzarella
In the summer heat, when you don’t want to eat anything fatty or too filling, you can prepare yourself a very light and healthy salad with mozzarella and champignons:
- Take 100 g of chicken breast, cut it into slices and fry in olive oil until fully cooked. It is advisable to ensure that the meat acquires a beautiful golden crust.
- Separately, cut 6 champignons into strips and fry them in olive oil. You can use the same one in which the breast was fried.
- Cut 2 tomatoes and 2 cucumbers into rings.
- Combine all the ingredients in one salad bowl, season them with lemon juice, pepper and salt to taste. For beauty, add a few arugula leaves.
Salad recipe with crayfish tails and mozzarella
The most dietary version of salad with mozzarella is prepared in just a few minutes. You don’t need to add anything to it except cheese, cucumbers, herbs and crayfish tails.
What and in what order should you do to prepare a light version of salad with mozzarella:
- Take 1 bunch of lettuce leaves and tear them with your hands so that you get uniform and neat pieces
- Peel 2 medium-sized cucumbers and cut the flesh into strips
- Boil 20 crayfish necks, peel them and place them on top of the cucumbers
- Cut 100 g of Italian cheese into rings; in this case, you can use hard mozzarella to grate it
- Season the salad with mayonnaise to your taste, salt and pepper
Prepare healthy and delicious meals with mozzarella for your family at least several times a week. This way you can strengthen the immunity of your loved ones and take care of their overall health. We hope that our salad recipes will not go unnoticed by you.
Video: “Salad with peaches and mozzarella”