Andy Montoya
Four-cheese pizza, or pizza ai quattro formaggi, is a popular variety of pizza that, as the name suggests, uses four different types of cheese as toppings. The pizza can be rossa (with a tomato base) or bianca (without a tomato base). The four cheeses used vary depending on the maker, but the most common types are mozzarella, Parmesan, cheddar, and provolone.
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What You'll Learn
Mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmigiano reggiano, and goat cheese
Mozzarella is a popular pizza cheese, often used as a base for other flavours. It is sold in different types, such as fresh, smoked, leaf-wrapped, stuffed, or seasoned, and in different shapes and qualities. The best mozzarella is still found south of Naples near Battipaglia and Caserta, where it is made from raw milk following a traditional recipe.
Gorgonzola is a cooked, full-fat, semi-hard cheese that originated in the town of Gorgonzola near Milan in the 9th century. It has a smooth and even rind and a light yellow paste with small holes. It comes in three varieties, depending on its ageing period: fresh (2 months), semi-aged (4 to 10 months), and aged (over one year). The first two types are table cheeses, while the aged variety may be consumed as a grating cheese.
Parmigiano Reggiano, or Parmesan, is a hard cheese that comes from Parma, Italy. It is often used in combination with mozzarella on pizzas. It has a strong, nutty flavour and a dry, crumbly texture.
Goat cheese, or chèvre, is a soft, tangy cheese with a strong flavour. It is often used in combination with mozzarella on pizzas, as its strong flavour means that less is required. Goat cheese does not melt in the same way as traditional melting cheeses, so it will not spread like mozzarella.
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Mozzarella, provolone, fontina, and gouda
Mozzarella is the most popular cheese option for pizza. It is a defining ingredient in Neapolitan pizza, but it is also an ideal cheese for any pizza style. Its versatility and creamy texture make it a great base for other cheeses, such as provolone, to be added for more depth of flavor. It is also a key ingredient in Margherita pizzas, where low-moisture mozzarella is used, and in Neapolitan and Greek pizzas, where high-moisture mozzarella is used.
Provolone is the second most popular cheese to blend with other cheeses. It is a semi-hard Italian cheese that exhibits similar stretchy-stringy properties and a smooth texture to mozzarella. However, it adds a bit more tangy flavor due to its longer aging process. It is a popular choice for Chicago deep-dish pizza, where it is placed between the crust and the filling to seal the crust from getting soggy.
Fontina is a cheese that has a stronger smell than mozzarella and provolone, and it browns better. It has a mild flavor overall, with a hint of sharpness. It can be mixed with ricotta, mozzarella, gruyere, or gorgonzola to make a creamy base for pizzas.
Gouda delivers a buttery flavor and texture that can be combined with mozzarella to create a unique and flavorful pizza topping. It is also one of the cheeses with good meltability, along with fontina, Jack, mozzarella, Muenster, provolone, and Swiss raclette.
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Mozzarella, provolone, asiago, and ricotta
Mozzarella is a staple cheese for pizzas, with its mellow richness and supreme stretchability. It is also versatile, with both fresh milk and standard varieties available, and a low-moisture whole-milk option that has a salty/tangy flavor. Mozzarella is often paired with sharp cheddar for its assertive flavor and provolone for a signature pizzeria taste. It is also a key ingredient in ricotta, which is made from the leftover whey after mozzarella production.
Provolone is a firm, elastic, fairly hard cheese that is perfect for melting and blending with mozzarella. It has a strong flavor that gets stronger as the cheese ages. It is shreddable and has an extended shelf life. It is a common pizza cheese, often used in blends with mozzarella.
Asiago is a dry, crumbly cheese with a high-fat content that is perfect for finishing off a pizza. It has a creamier texture than Parmesan and is similar to aged cheddar. It can be sprinkled on a pizza after cooking to add a unique aromatic and textural quality.
Ricotta is a creamy, whey-style cheese used in both savory and sweet dishes. It is super-soft and fresh, with a sweeter, milkier taste. It can be spread on a pizza like sauce or dolloped on top of other ingredients for surprise pockets of creaminess. It is affordable and pairs well with mozzarella.
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Mozzarella, parmesan, pecorino romano, and asiago
Mozzarella is a soft, stringy, and mild-flavoured cheese that is often used on pizzas. It is made from buffalo or cow's milk and is usually white in colour.
Parmesan, or Parmigiano Reggiano, is a hard cheese made from cow's milk and aged for at least 12 months. It has a strong, nutty flavour and is often grated over pasta dishes, salads, and pizzas.
Pecorino Romano is a sheep's milk cheese with a sharp, salty taste. It is also a hard cheese, aged for about 8 months, and is usually grated. It is often used in Italian dishes such as pasta and pizza.
Asiago is a semi-cooked cow's milk cheese from the northeastern region of Italy: Veneto and Trentino. It is a grating cheese formed into 20-pound wheels. Asiago is considered a mountain or alpine cheese, and it can range from semi-soft to hard, depending on how long it has been aged.
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Mozzarella, gorgonzola, taleggio, and stracchino
Mozzarella is a fundamental component of four-cheese pizzas, as it maintains humidity during cooking, partially protecting the other cheeses from the strong heat of the oven. It has a mild flavour and is produced in Lombardia. It is also used in desserts throughout Italy.
Gorgonzola is a very fatty cheese, rich in saturated fats and cholesterol, so it is not recommended for those on low-calorie diets or who have high cholesterol. Legend has it that gorgonzola was created when a Lombardian cheesemaker got drunk in an inn and left his cheese in the cellar, where a blue mould developed in veins throughout the cheese. It is a main ingredient in the quattro formaggi pizza.
Taleggio is a semi-soft cheese with a pungent scent and mild flavour that comes from Lombardia. It is a fat, soft, rind-washed, short or mid-aged cheese that is washed in brine and rubbed with salt and water. It melts beautifully and is a good substitute for gorgonzola.
Stracchino is a northern Italian relation to mozzarella, made with cow's milk. It has a mild flavour and is used for its creamy texture. It is also one of the oldest types of cheese, with some documents from the 13th century referring to this product as "stracchino", from "strach", meaning tired, referring to the transhumance of the cattle.
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Frequently asked questions
The four cheeses used in a pizza quattro formaggi are typically mozzarella, gorgonzola, parmesan, and one other cheese. This fourth cheese is often a soft cheese like emmental, gruyère, or fontina, or a creamy cheese like robiola or stracchino.
Yes, some variations include provolone, pecorino romano, asiago, edam, blue cheese, or taleggio.
The quattro formaggi pizza is believed to have originated in Rome, Italy, in the 16th century.
