Around the World in 80 Plates: Italy (cont)

Next up for Italy is another recipe from Artisan Vegan Cheese...Pizza Margherita! This pizza may look simple and it is simple to make but it tastes so delicious thanks to Miyoko's Meltable Mozzarella. It is one of the easiest cheeses to make in the book since it only requires yogurt as it's base. I have made it a few times now and love it when you let it culture for the full 24 hours. It gives it the flavour I remember mozzarella having but not the true buffalo mozzarella (which I always found a bit bland), the kind you get in the giant blocks for much less. I was raised on the latter so my taste goes more for a sharper flavour that you can recreate with a 24 hour culture.

The dough is definitely different than the pizza dough I usually make since it has cold water not warm and you don't actually let it rise. It says in the recipe you want it to get it's rise in the hot oven. Fair enough. It was very tasty and had the perfect ratio of crunch to chew to it. I used a bottled store bought simple passata sauce with just San Marzano tomatoes, basil and salt and sprinkled it with bit of freshly chiffonaded (fancy word for sliced thinly into strips) basil. Ryan and I both really enjoyed this pizza, maybe there was even a little fight over who got the last slice. I would definitely make it again and encourage you to try it too!