Everything you want to know about your favorite cheeses!

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Cooking Italy’s Best: Lasagna with Mozarella di Buffala

Whenever my friends and I eat out in an Italian restaurant, the dish I usually order is Lasagna. Lasagna is one of my favorite pasta dishes and I wanted to learn how to cook it. My friend knows how to make lasagna and she makes one of the best in the world. I asked her what cheese she uses because I particularly like its texture and she told me that she uses Mozarella di Bufala with Parmesan and cottage cheese.  

I’m quite familiar with the other cheeses that she mentioned but I’m not sure with Mozarella di Buffala, so I researched on it. From what I have gathered, this comes from the milk of water buffalos. It is manufactured in most parts of the world, but the best ones are believed to be from Italy. Also, this cheese is the most prized among the mozzarella cheeses. It is great for pizza and pasta due to its melting properties and its flavor is delicate, hence it can complement with other ingredients that you put in your dish. It can also stand alone and can be eaten raw or with tomatoes and basil, or any other herbs you wish to add.

So after my research, I tried making my very own lasagna. I prepared the basic ingredients such as the lasagna noodles, lean ground pork and beef, tomato sauce and fresh crush tomatoes. Do not forget your herbs such as your parsley, oregano, basil, garlic and onions. I don’t like black pepper on my lasagna so I skipped that, but you can add them if you want. For the cheese, I prepared my Mozzarella di Bufala, Parmesan and cottage cheese. I added salt and a little bit of sugar to balance the flavor. When everything was cooked, it was delicious and I love how cheesy it was! You can try and make your own according to your taste too. A lot of recipes can be found on the internet. You can buy your ingredients in your local grocery store, and as for your cheese, you can try the best cheese shop around your place so you’ll have the freshest and best ones.