We’re sure you’ve seen them: the photos of a grilled cheese or slice of pizza where the cheese pulls just so beautifully, it doesn’t seem real. While the cheese is (usually) real, it does take a little behind-the-scenes magic to help that pull reach the screen. But if you follow our tips, you too can perfect your cheese pull. 

First off, don’t be shy with the cheese. If you want the perfect pull, there actually has to be an abundance of cheese to pull. Shocker! Make your sandwich or pizza as is, but towards the end, add on some extra cheese with maximum pulling power. Some of the best and most melty cheeses for this are provolone, mozzarella and fontina. But remember, not all cheeses are created equal. For example, a slice from a ball of mozzarella is going to give a better pull than shredded mozzarella will. Also, when using provolone, make sure it’s mild and not sharp as the sharp does not really melt.

Now that we’ve introduced the cheeses, what about slicing them? When making a sandwich, there is one key component to help maximize your cheese pull. You’ll want to cut the sandwich in half before adding the cheese. After you’ve made the cut, pile the cheese onto the already sliced sammy. Then, once you’ve piled on the goods, throw the sandwich back in the oven until it gets hot and bubbly. The sooner you can perform the pull after it comes out of the oven, the better. Doing it in this order helps so that you don’t cut the cheese in half, and you allow it to stretch fully as you pull the sandwich apart. 

Like most good things in life, your cheese pull should not be rushed. Slow and steady wins the race here. Pull slow and strategically. It’s usually best to pull up and out rather than just straight apart. It’s all about those angles, baby!

Here’s another pro-tip for doing the perfect cheese pull for fried cheesy foods like mozzarella sticks: scoring. You want to take the stick of cheesy goodness and lightly cut an outline around the breading where you want to pull the stick apart. Be sure to only cut the breading and not the actual cheese or this tip will not work as well. Grab the stick from each end and pull one side up and out for as long as it may stretch. This will create a cleaner and possibly longer pull.

Whether you’re looking to perfect your cheese pull for food photography purposes, or simply to impress your friends the next time you’re out for pizza, we hope these tips helped. If you find yourself wanting to really hone in on your cheese pull skills, we’ve got plenty of cheesy menu items for you to practice with. Come stop on in and step up your game!

Ingredients

4 bunches of broccoli rabe

2 tablespoons of minced fresh garlic

1 tablespoon of salt

1 tablespoon black pepper

4 tablespoons grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup olive oil

Directions

Wash and dry broccoli rabe. Cut ¼ inch off the ends of broccoli rabe stems and discard them. Cut remainder of broccoli rabe, leaves and stems, into 1 inch pieces. Place cut broccoli rabe into large mixing bowl. Add garlic, salt, pepper, Romano cheese and oil to bowl. Mix well with hands massaging all ingredients into the broccoli rabe.  Be sure all rabe gets coated with ingredients. Transfer broccoli rabe to a large sheet pan and spread it evenly across pan. Place sheet pan in a 400 degree pre-heated oven for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and allow it to cool. I like it served at room temperature with a squeeze of lemon. Enjoy!

Mortadella Head pepperoni jalapeno roman pizza

At Mortadella Head, we take pride in our pizza dough. Our Roman-style pizza is crafted using a multi-day process of activating yeast, allowing the dough to rise, and perfecting the flavors you know and love. At home, homemade pizza dough is something that you can make for parties or even just a fun family dinner everyone can participate in. Here are a few ways to make your own pizza dough at home, ranging from a fast and quick method to a much more intensive process.

Three Different Ways to Make Pizza Dough at Home

It’s really easy to make your own pizza dough, no matter how much time you have on your hands. Here are three ways, all varying in time spent making the dough and time needed to allow the dough to build up.

Quick Dough - The Fastest Way to Homemade Pizza Dough

The simplest doughs can be made using just a few ingredients. For starters, a good flour needs to be in your kitchen any time you make a dough. By simply adding warm water to a packet of instant yeast, you can slowly add the flour and some salt to form a sticky dough. Cover it for around 10 minutes to allow the fast-acting yeast to rise the dough so it’s ready for stretching and baking. In terms of going from basic ingredients to a homemade pizza, it doesn’t get much easier than this.

24-Hour Pizza Dough - Stepping it Up a Notch

In terms of a natural rise and plenty of air entering the dough, using fresh yeast can make a big difference. If you’re not ready to tackle a multi-day dough, a 24-hour recipe is a great way to get your toes wet with a more labor intensive dough. Luckily, the ingredients to something like this often stay the same, substituting instant yeast for fresh yeast and often using a combination of normal flour and bread flour. In many recipes you’ll find online, working the dough will be followed by cutting it in half, and refrigerating for 24 hours. When you go back to check on your dough, you’ll be glad you halved it - both halves will look as big as the original dough you formed! From here, you’re good to stretch, top, and cook this intermediate style dough.

Multi-Day Dough - Becoming a Pro

The fun thing about a multi-day dough is, once again, the ingredients don’t change. Everyone has their little secret touch they like to add, but you’re still dealing with flour, salt, water, and yeast. The difference here is allowing the dough time to respond to the activated yeast. Many multi-day doughs involve three steps. First, combine the ingredients of the dough and let rise for 24 hours. Next, take the dough out, work it around with freshly floured hands, and then divide the dough into portions, depending on the size crust you’d like. Lastly, let the dough sit for another 24-48 hours to allow the new formations time to expand, providing you with a canvas to work away your pizza loving heart’s desires.

No Time to Deal with Dough? We’ve Got You Covered

Making pizza at home is a blast, but sometimes you just need to skip the labor of love and get your hands on authentic Italian flavors made fresh for you. Mortadella Head has you covered, whether you’re in the mood for pizza, wings, or any of our signature dishes.

Mortadella Head zucchini pasta

We spend a lot of time in the kitchen here at Mortadella Head. Most of that time we’re experimenting to come up with the best sandwiches and pizza in the Boston area. But we also like to have fun and learn a few things.

We recently invited our friend Fausto Minidio into the kitchen to teach us -- and you -- a little something about the way a real Italian cooks.  A little background on Fausto: He’s from the Abruzzo region of Italy and has been living in the Boston area for the past few years. He’s worked in the food industry for a long time. Fausto started out working in restaurants as a kid in his hometown, and now works for one of the largest Italian food importers and retailers in Boston.I invited Fausto in after having lunch at his house one day.

After our Italian language lesson, he made a simple dish with zucchini and onions -- two ingredients that make a nice creamy sauce. The dish was good. Really good. So I thought it would be a great idea to get him into the Mortadella Head kitchen to experiment with us.The day he showed up, Fausto got off the train in Davis Square and walked right into Mortadella Head with a duffle bag full of his own pans and ingredients. I had told him we would already have everything he’d need to make the dish at the restaurant. But apparently he didn’t want to take a chance letting us hacks source ingredients for his signature dish.

Fausto called his dish “crema di zucchini.” Each ingredient in the recipe can easily be found in your local grocery store, and you’d be crazy not to make it yourself. Just make sure you use fresh vegetables, a high-quality Italian olive oil, and a good Parmesan cheese. For the pasta, we used rigatoni, but you could really use any kind.

We ended up calling this dish “Pasta al Faustino.” It was awesome. Simple, fresh, lively. It was great with pasta, but we’ll be using it as a pizza sauce really soon. We’ll share on Instagram when we make it, so be on the lookout for that. In the meantime, here’s the recipe so you can make it at home.

Ingredients

• ½ cup Italian olive oil

• 3 zucchini, sliced into ½-inch pieces

• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into ½-inch pieces

• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tsp. salt

• ½ tsp. ground black pepper

• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

• Water, as needed

• 1 lb. rigatoni pasta

Directions

1. Add half of the olive oil to sauté pan over medium heat. Cook zucchini, onions, and garlic until they have softened and the onions are translucent. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Add water, a little at a time, to avoid the vegetables from burning. The water will also help soften the onions and zucchini.

3. While vegetables are cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add pasta and cook one minute less than the instructions on the package. Stir often so the pasta doesn’t stick together.

4. Drain pasta in a colander, reserving some of the starchy pasta water.  

5. Once zucchini and onions are soft enough to mash with a fork, place entire contents of the pan into a blender. Puree on low while slowly adding the remainder of the olive oil.

6. Once the mixture is creamy, add half of the parmesan cheese.

7. Add the crema di zucchini to a saucepan over medium heat. Add cooked pasta to the pan and toss to evenly coat.

8. Transfer pasta to a plate and sprinkle with more parmesan before serving. Buon appetito!

   Watch the video here to see us in action!

Italian food ignites taste buds like no other meal will. Every course is an experience, and a true Italian will take pride in every bite of food. With a mouth full of prosciutto and cheese, we can’t think of a single thing to complain about.

Up first on the menu will always be antipasto. The first course to a hearty Italian dinner generally starts with some sort of meat, cheese, and bread, because who wouldn’t want to stuff their faces with such delicious food? An antipasto platter is the pinnacle of the perfect starter dish. Generally speaking, this appetizer comes with a variety of Parma ham, mortadella, salami, prosciutto, mozzarella, and olives. When displayed on a beautiful wooden board or shining platter, this smorgasbord becomes an elegant treat.

Figs are a fruit that's surprisingly commonplace item on an Italian menu. Figs grown all over Italy and they're a delightful treat at any point in your meal. A sweet and tart fresh goat cheese and fig salad is an exciting option that you might find on a menu. While it’s not one of the most recognizable dishes, it is certainly a fresh option to try.

Our favorite, however, is a refreshing caprese salad. Nothing will ever quite compare to the rich slices of mozzarella with juicy ripe tomatoes and leaves of fresh basil to tie it all together. The balsamic drizzle tops it all off for the perfect flavor combination to start your meal. It’s just light enough to keep you excited for your entrée, but rich enough to satisfy your cravings.

But for bread, will you choose a crostini or bruschetta? While the two are incredibly similar, bruschetta is generally on a bit larger piece of toasted bread. Crostini is a grilled slice of a smaller loaf of bread such as a baguette. Bruschetta is best roasted with a bit of olive oil and garlic and topped with a simple tomato and basil. For the crostini, a ricotta and fig mixture is another great incorporation of figs into  and balances the small piece of toast well.

No matter what dish you choose, the antipasto is meant to excite your palate and stomach just enough to keep you lasting until your meal.In case you missed it, check out the rest of this series:

• Understanding the Italian Menu: The Courses