Most of the time, we use quite a few pizza toppings. But some times, less really is more. And a plain old cheese pizza — done well — can be the most delicious pizza ever.

Like most dishes with only a few ingredients, it’s important that each one of them be top quality. If you can’t buy fresh pizza dough at your neighborhood grocery store, make it yourself. And use San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them.

Pizza Cheese

But for the ultimate cheese pizza, the most critical ingredient is the pizza cheese, or more likely, cheeses. Although mozzarella cheese is the obvious choice, it’s quite mild and without some spicy pepperoni to jack things up, you could end up with a boring pizza.

If you want a mouth-watering pizza that’s bursting with flavor, you’ll need to add some other cheeses. Emmental cheese is a very popular pizza topping in France. A Swiss cheese made from cow’s milk, it has a nutty, buttery flavor. Jarlsberg, which comes from Norway, is similar. Both melt beautifully.

Another Swiss cheese that makes a fabulous pizza is Gruyere. Slightly salty from being brined, Gruyere is aged from a few months to a year. The flavor intensifies with aging. The French cheese, Comte, is quite similar. These cheeses are too rich to use as you would mozzarella. Either combine them with mozzarella, or use less than you ordinarily would.

As you’d expect, Italy also has several great pizza cheeses in addition to mozzarella. Fontina, which hails from the Val d’Aosta region, near the Swiss border, is mellow and slightly sweet. Burrata cheese — basically mozzarella with a center of heavy cream — is subtle, but delicious. Ricotta also adds a smooth, creamy texture. Just be sure it’s well drained before you use it.

No pizza is complete without one of the Italian grating cheeses: parmesan, grana padano, Asiago, or pecorino romano. These add wonderful depth, but be mindful of their saltiness. For the best flavor, grate them right before you use them.

Although the four cheeses in pizza quattro formaggi vary based on the preferences of the pizza maker, there’s usually a bleu or veined cheese, often gorgonzola. Use the gorgonzola sparingly, otherwise it will overwhelm everything else.

Cheese Pizza

If you’re not a fan of bleu cheese, consider substituting goat cheese or feta. These range in flavor from mild to pungent.

Before you put your pizza in the oven, drizzle a little top-quality olive oil over the top. And if you’re so inclined, add a couple of twists of freshly-ground pepper or crushed red peppers flakes.

Once the aroma of melting cheese starts to waft from the oven, it will be difficult to be patient. But let your oven bake until the cheese turns golden brown and bubbly. Pour yourself a nice glass of Italian red — maybe Montepulciano or Chianti — and enjoy the best pizza there is.

Read more tips on pizza cheese or learn how to make your own.

Pizza Cheese Image Flickr: quinn.anya
Cheese Pizza Image Flickr: avlxyz

We just got back from traveling in the South of France, and as you’d expect, the food was fantastic. One of the most enjoyable parts of our trip was visiting the fantastic food markets. Each town has its own market day, and some have a market every day but Sunday. The Saturday market in the town of Arles is one of the best is the area. And there’s a permanent market in Antibes that’s open every day but Sunday.

The restaurants here serve lots of fresh seafood and other ingredients that you find in the market — vegetables, herbs, and olives. Because the South of France is so close to Italy, there’s also lots of pasta, dishes with tomatoes, and pizza.

There’s a pizza restaurant in just about every small town, and many of them having wood-burning ovens. They don’t make traditional Neapolitan pizza here — the crust is thicker and there are more pizza toppings. But they do create a delicious pie.

We were a little surprised by the pizza toppings, which don’t vary a lot. Nowhere did we see pepperoni, Italian sausage, or the usual pizza meats. Here, as in Spain, it’s all about the ham. Jambon cru, which is like prosciutto, is the most popular choice. Some places, you’ll see specific types of ham, such as Serrano or Iberico ham from Spain.

Proscuitto Pizza

Seafood, especially ancovies, are also popular toppings. But you’ll also see tuna and calamari.

Most places offer both white and red pizzas. White is sauced with crème fraiche, which is absolutely delicious. The white pizzas are best with vegetables like caramelized onion and mushroom.

The French are known for their fabulous cheeses, and here’s where they make their mark. Unlike in American and Italy, mozzarella isn’t the star of the show when it comes to pizza cheeses. Emmental, which is similar to Swiss cheese, and is made in Switzerland, is very popular. Chevre, or goat cheese, is also used a lot, and it’s frequently combined with arugula.

Arles Market

Gruyere, Fontina, Reblochon, Comte, and Roquefort all makes delicious pizzas.

Many of the pizzas we had has a black olive in the center, and virtually all of them had a drizzle of excellent local olive oil. This really brought all the flavors together and improved the overall taste. A carafe of olive oil with chili peppers is served with your pizza. It’s pretty spicy and adds a nice zing.

We found an artisanal olive oil at our local farmers market and we’ve started drizzling it over our pizzas. It wasn’t inexpensive, but it was well worth the money.

The best pizza we had in the South of France was at La Cantina in Saint-Remy-en-Provence. The town itself is quite charming, one of the cutest in the region. And the restaurant was surprisingly quite modern. But the pizzas there were some of the best we’ve ever has, anywhere.

When you think pizza, chances are, you think mozzarella.   It’s the default pizza cheese, and with good reason.  It melts well, has a mild flavor that goes with almost any pizza toppings, and it’s readily available and affordable.

But before you reach for that bag of shredded cheese in your grocer’s refrigerator, remember that there’s more than one kind of mozzarella.  And your pizza will be very different depending on which one you choose.

High-moisture — or fresh — mozzarella is packed in liquid and has a short shelf life.  It can be made from cow’s milk or buffalo milk.  It’s more expensive than low-moisture cheese, but as a rule, you’ll use less of it than the shredded kind.  Fresh mozzarella has a creamy texture and sweet, milky flavor that many purists prefer.

If you’re topping your pizza with high-moisture mozzarella, you’ll want to squeeze out the excess liquid and slice it into medallions.  Otherwise your crust will be soggy.  And you don’t need to cover the entire surface of the pie.  As the cheese melts, it will spread a little.

Low-moisture mozzarella is easier to work with and it’s often available made with part skim milk.  Whole-milk mozzarella melts a little better.  But part skim has less fat, and consequently, fewer calories.  Smoked mozzarella is another option that’s especially good with chicken and caramelized onions.

Because mozzarella, especially the low-moisture variety, is so mild, you should use a hard cheese to add a little punch.  Freshly grated parmesan is a great addition.  For the best flavor, buy Parmigiano-Reggiano.  It’s made from grass-fed cow’s milk and aged for a year.

Romano, which can be made from either sheep or goat’s milk, is salty and sharp.  And Grana Padano, which comes from outside Milan, is another flavor booster.  A little of any of these goes a long way.

But why not change things up and use something other than mozzarella?  A Greek pizza with olives, onions, tomatoes, and feta cheese makes a wonderful summer supper.   For something really special, top it with tzatziki sauce after it’s baked.  Feta is also great with shrimp and tomatoes.  And tangy goat cheese is terrific with arugula and sausage.  Just spray the greens with a little oil before baking.

Combine Fontina with wild mushrooms, and bacon or pancetta.   Or try Gruyere with pancetta and ripe pear slices.  Gorgonzola is also excellent with pears.

Creamy, smoked gouda is perfect for a Mexican pizza with chicken and enchilada sauce.   Or a barbecued chicken pizza with barbecue sauce, red onions, and cilantro.  Cheddar and Cheddar blends are also go well with Mexican toppings or ground beef.

For a lasagna fix without the fuss, top your pizza with a rich meat sauce, mozzarella, and ricotta cheese.

Next time you make a pizza, look in your grocer’s cheese section for inspiration.