Ever wonder how to make fresh, homemade mozzarella? Let Frank Bolognino tell you!
Ingredients:
• 1 1/4 c. water
• 1 1/2 tsp citric acid (sold at Roma’s)
• 1/4 rennet tablet or 1/4 tsp liquid rennet (sold at Roma’s)
• 1 gallon of either whole or 2% milk
• 1 tsp kosher salt
Directions:
• Combine 1 cup of water and citric acid until dissolved. In another bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup of water with rennet until dissolved.
• Warm milk by heating on stovetop. Stir in the citric acid mixture and warm to 90 degrees, stirring gently.
• Remove pot from heat. Gently mix in rennet mixture and stir for about 30 seconds. Cover pot and let stand for 5 minutes or until milk sets— it may take an extra 5 minutes or so if the mixture is really watery. Once set, cut uniform curds by making several parallel cuts vertically and horizontally to create a grid pattern. Ensure that your knife reaches the bottom of the pan. (If you want to skip this step, we sell cheese curds at Roma’s as well!)
• Return pot to stove and heat over medium to about 105 degrees. Stir slowly, being careful not to break up the curds up too much (curds should clump together).
• Remove from heat and stir gently for 5 minutes. With a slotted spoon, ladle curds into a microwavable bowl, separating curds from whey.
• Microwave curds for 1 minute, then drain the whey. They may be hot, so using rubber gloves, fold curds over themselves a few times. They should look similar to cottage cheese.
• Microwave in 30-second increments until curds reach an internal temperature of 135 degrees.
• Form the mozzarella: Sprinkle sea salt over curds and use fingers to mix. Use both hands to fold and stretch curds. Eventually, they will start to firm up and look glossy.
• Shape into one or several balls, trying not to overwork the cheese.
• Store fresh mozzarella in an airtight container with 1 tsp of salt and a cool cup of whey to keep moist.
• Enjoy!
