The concepts of "Italy" and "pizza" for us (and forall in the world) are simply inseparable. And what is interesting is that there are no analogues of this dish in any other cuisine. But the Italians have tried their best: there are so many recipes for Italian pizza that there are enough for everyone! True, chefs from other countries did not remain in debt either, they come up with more and more new recipes, but no one has yet managed to “outdo” the taste of traditional pizza. There are pizza recipes in Italian cuisine with a rich history, there are also those that are surrounded by myths and legends. And there is a pizza recipe that is unlike any other - Quattro Formaggio (Pizza 4 Formaggi), or Pizza four cheeses. They say that this pizza is just a godsend for a gourmet, that it can stun the most sophisticated tasters, that it simply has no shortcomings. By the way, it is not difficult to cook this pizza at home. It is much more difficult to understand the types of cheeses used for its preparation and their correct combination. However, nothing is impossible, which means we can do it too.

Four cheeses for pizza

This pizza owes its amazing taste tonaturally, its composition, which, by the way, does not include anything other than dough and cheese, since Pizza 4 Cheeses is prepared without any sauces and even without the usual tomatoes (that is why it belongs to the so-called white pizzas). The traditional composition of the pizza "Four Cheeses" is mozzarella (soft cheese), gorgonzola (blue cheese), parmesan (hard cheese) and emmental (aromatic cheese). What kind of cheeses are these, and are any other combinations possible? Let's figure it out.

• Mozzarella - young Italian cheese in the form of softballs. In our supermarkets you can buy mozzarella from cow's milk, although classic mozzarella is produced from the milk of black buffalo. In addition, this cheese can not be stored for a long time (only a few days), so they get it a little and are used immediately. But for pizza, a solid variety of mozzarella, which we often can get, is also suitable. Mozzarella can be replaced with cheese, or feta cheese, but still the recipe for traditional pizza 4 cheese implies the use of mozzarella.
• Gorgonzola - cheese with blue mold, Italiananalogue of the French roquefort. Such cheeses are also called blue, and distinguishes them (except for mold) with a characteristic pungent taste and a special flavor. By the way, according to the technology of production of gorgonzola, German blue cambocola cheese is also produced. Other cheeses that can replace gorgonzola - Furm d'Amber, are given blue, dor blu.
• Parmesan is one of the hardest cheeses,characterized by a special flake structure. Parmesan is also one of the oldest cheeses (its production has a thousand-year history). You can buy parmesan in the form of small packaged pieces or in the form of grated chips (crumbs). This is the second conditionally indispensable ingredient in pizza 4 cheese, without which almost no one of its recipe. However, if desired, instead of parmesan cheese, you can use grana padano or pecorino cheese.
• Emmental is considered to be Swiss cheese, althoughis produced in many countries (including Italy). It is a spicy piquant cheese with a sweetish taste and characteristic numerous "holes". In addition to the emmental for pizza "Four Cheeses" is suitable cheddar, rennet smoked cheese, gouda, or any other hard cheese.

The most successful combinations of cheeses for this pizza:

• brynza, tilsiter, dor blu, edam;
• Gorgonzola, Gruyer, Pecorino, Parmesan;
• mozzarella, gorgonzola, fontain, parmesan;
• mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, dor blu.

However, you can choose cheeses at your own discretion. The main thing is that the Quattro Formaggio pizza contains soft, hard, aromatic and blue cheeses.

The recipe for pizza "Four Cheeses"

Recipe for making this Italian pizzais quite simple. In addition to four cheeses, herbs and hot spices are used for its filling, and the base is baked from yeast dough, for which we will need the following ingredients:

• Flour - a pound (2 cups);
• Milk or water - 1 glass;
• Egg - 1 piece;
• Dry yeast - 5 g;
• Olive oil - 3 tablespoons;
• Sugar - 2 teaspoons;
• Salt - 2 pinch.

For the filling:

• Mozzarella - 100 g;
• Parmesan - 100 g;
• Gorgonzola-100 g;
• Emmental - 100 g;
• Basil - 5-6 leaves;
• Ground black pepper
• Olive oil.

Or:

• Dor blues - 100 g;
• Parmesan - 100 g;
• Fontina - 100 g;
• Mozzarella - 100 g;
• A mixture of Italian spices (basil, oregano, bitter paprika).

Preparation:Be sure to sift the flour through a sieve and mix it with sugar, salt and instant dry yeast. Beat the egg until lightly foamed, add olive oil and pour in warm water or milk (you can use milk diluted with water). Pour all this into a bowl with flour and quickly knead the dough, which should be soft, but should not stick to your hands. Then leave the dough to rise for an hour. Place the finished dough on a table sprinkled with flour and form a round pizza base from it - a flatbread five to seven millimeters thick. Then transfer the flatbread to a baking sheet covered with baking paper, grease it with olive oil (one teaspoon) and pierce it in several places with a fork. Then cut into cubes or grate all the cheeses and lay them out in layers:

• Mozzarella or other soft cheese;
• Gorgonzola or any blue cheese;
• Emmental (cheddar, gouda);
• Parmesan (pecorino).

Lightly press all layers with your palms and sprinklespices. Bake the pizza in the oven for about twenty minutes. You can tell if it is ready by the color of the crust: it will start to brown on the bottom, and the dough itself will become dark golden. Decorate the finished pizza with basil leaves and serve hot. Note: The traditional pizza dough recipe includes equal amounts of soft flour and coarse flour. You can also use regular wheat flour and special pizza flour. It is not necessary to evenly distribute all the cheeses over the surface of the crust, this is another feature of the Four Cheeses pizza. In order for the cheeses to melt and the dough to bake, bake the pizza at a temperature of two hundred degrees. Although the Four Cheeses pizza is quite traditional, its recipe is not democratic. You can choose the cheeses to your taste, and use any suitable recipe for making the yeast dough. By the way, some people include tomatoes or tomato paste in the recipe for this pizza, which they spread on the dough before putting cheese layers on it. Try to make this unusual (for us), but so delicious pizza. Believe me, the result will be fantastic. The main thing is to cook with pleasure. We recommend reading:

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