A few months ago we were inspired by Barbara Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle to start having a Friday night homemade pizza night. It's been great because a) by Friday we have pretty much run out of creative energy for new recipes, b) our toddler will eat pizza most of the time (or at least the crust), and c) pizza is a great way to use up leftovers.  (Although it’s important to note that not all leftover-based pizza toppings are created equal.  For instance: steak, goat cheese, and caramelized onions – yes; chicken and broccoli pasta – not so much.)

We've been making our own dough and sauce for a while, but last Friday, we made it one step closer to a fully homemade pizza by making mozzarella cheese at home. We also got to use what Brent calls “micro-green basil” (the leftover tiny plants he had thinned from our seedlings).  Despite being tiny, month-old sprouts, our mini-basil already had fantastic basil scent and flavor – and we were glad to give them a purpose other than the worm bin.

We had purchased the 30-minute Mozzarella Kit from New England Cheesemaking Supply. Despite seeming like a pretty gourmet item to make, selling in our neighborhood for $5-6/pound, fresh mozzarella was a breeze to make.  Like almost everything we do these days, the recipe starts with heating a gallon of milk along with a bit of citric acid diluted in water.  Once the milk warms and reaches its assigned temperature, we removed it from the heat and stirred in a quarter of a rennet tablet, dissolved in water.  Our recipe then instructed us to stand back and watch the miracle of cheese happen.  Instead of the thick curd we’d seen online, ours was rather loose and unimpressive.  No strangers to dairy-based failures, we lost faith and were pretty sure we had accidentally made ricotta. But draining the curds, a little microwaving, and a little kneading and stretching, we actually had mozzarella.  We immediately cooled it in ice water and broke off some pieces to try.  It was amazing – and far more flavorful than any we’d ever had. Between a gallon of whole milk and the supplies from the kit, we figure it cost us $3 to make two pounds of mozzarella. 

Shredded up the next day, it also melted quite nicely on our homemade pizza. We can't wait to eat more of it with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden this summer.