Grande Cheese is a well-regarded cheese supplier used by many pizzerias throughout the U.S. They offer an excellent pre-shredded mix they call East Coast Blend. It’s simply half-and-half whole-milk low-moisture mozzarella and part-skim low-moisture mozzarella.
What’s “low-moisture mozzarella”? Pizza Nerd word alert! It’s the stuff you get in the regular, non-fancy cheese case at the grocery story, in other words the stuff that is not the white, moisture-laden fresh mozzarella. Low-moisture mozzarella (LMM) is what most New York slice pizzerias use and what you probably grew up thinking of as “mozzarella” cheese if you didn’t grow up as in an Italian where your birthright is great mootz.
I like to use this potato grater to make nice, ropy shreds that melt slower and thus stay oozier. But a regular box grater (big hole side!) will do just fine.
Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY PRE-SHREDDED MOZZARELLA from the grocery store. It has a small amount of cornstarch added to the bag to prevent clumping. It also prevents even melting.
'New York Blend' Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 1 pound unshredded whole milk mozzarella (Galbani is excellent)
- 1 pound unshredded part skim mozzarella (Galbani if available)
Instructions
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On the large holes of a box grater, or, ideally, the potato grater referenced above, shred cheeses into a large mixing bowl.
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Thoroughly blend cheeses and store in a large zip-top bag or quart containers.