needrain said: <Snip>...I decided to clear some cheese chunks that needed using before they mold. So a bit of sharp cheddar, Swiss, and Parmesan got grated up.
... So what was to be a simple cheese and Pepperoni, ground beef and Italian sausage pizza turned into more of a smorgasbord of additions and not quite as fast and easy as I'd planned.
... I'm not a connoisseur of pizza, but this seemed a cut above the usual. And I liked the Swiss cheese addition - can't remember trying that previously.
I am, admittedly, biased so take my opinion with a very healthy grain of salt. But that seems an unconscionable thing to do to an innocent pizza. I believe it should be illegal to top pizza with anything more than a judiciously applied good tomato sauce (preferably made from tomatoes I've grown), a very modest amount of fresh mozarella, if I'm being posh it might be mozarella di buffala, and a few leaves of basil torn and sent fluttering onto the pizza when it's just been removed from the oven.
In France they (not we - as I'd never!) top with a blend of cheese including Swiss or the ubiquitous Ementhal.
But, what I really want to do is offer an alternative use for your cheese; make a house version of fromage fort. Save all the bits of your hard and semi hard cheeses and when you have enough cut them into small pieces and chop/grind them in a food processor. Sometimes grating super hard cheese like aged parm before adding it to the food processor is useful. Once ground together add some cream cheese or unsalted butter to get the mass to a thick, slightly coarse, but spreadable consistency. Add a clove of crushed garlic a pinch of cayenne of you like, a goodly splash of Cognac or Brandy or Vermouth (I tend to use bth Cognac and Vermouth because I have them at hand). Pack the cheese into a jar and refrigerate it -it will keep for weeks and weeks (it's the booze, don't you know). Quite good to bring to room temp and spread on toasted baguette rounds and serve with drinks. Equally good on toast points and then broiled until browned and bubbly. Ive been known to use it as the main ingredient in a very grown up version of mac and cheese...
You'll thank me later.
Avoid soft cheeses such as Brie, or blues. Since the cheese is going to be ground together it is also useful in that if you accumulate cheese slowly and in small bits they can be frozen until you have sufficient for a batch.
