What Is Stracciatella Cheese?

Stracciatella is a type of pasta filata (spun paste) cheese made from finely torn shreds of freshly stretched mozzarella. It has a light, bouncy texture and lactic sweetness. The cheese is used to form the filling for burrata or may be eaten as a topping for bread or crostini. 

What Is Stracciatella?

Stracciatella is a version of fresh mozzarella that's been torn into fine shreds as part of the stretching process. The word means "little rag" in Italian, referencing the look of the torn cheese. It was developed in the 1920s in Andria, a commune in Puglia in southern Italy.

While stracciatella is technically the name for the shredded strands of mozzarella, the name is often used to refer to the combination of shredded cheese and cream. This soft, rich mixture is used to fill pouches of fresh mozzarella in the production of burrata or may be consumed as a fresh cheese on its own. 

How Stracciatella Is Made

Raw cow or water buffalo milk is heated before cultures and then rennet is added to the milk. When the milk has coagulated into a bouncy yet solid gel, the curds are cut into one-inch cubes. The curds and whey are gently heated to help soften and acidify the curd. 

Next, a portion of the whey is drained off and the curds are placed in very hot, salted water, around 185 degrees. The lumpy, stiff curds are gently shaped and pulled by hand until smooth and shiny. At this point, the cheese may be shaped into balls or braids for fresh mozzarella; to make stracciatella, the curd is torn into small shreds, once again by hand. These may be combined with fresh cream and packaged, or the cheesemaker may pull the remaining mozzarella curd into square pouch shapes and stuff these with the stracciatella and cream mixture to make burrata.

Substitutes

Fresh ricotta may be substituted for stracciatella as a condiment or an ingredient in a topping or filling. Stracchino, a fresh, unripened Italian cheese with a milky flavor and light tang, may also be used. For melting, such as on a pizza, fresh mozzarella or burrata can be used in place of stracciatella.

Types

In Italy, rich, creamy stracciatella di bufala is produced specifically with water buffalo milk, which has double the fat and a more pronounced flavor than cheeses made with cow's milk. In America, stracciatella is typically produced with cow's milk and may be purchased alongside fresh mozzarella and ricotta at well-stocked supermarkets, cheese shops, and specialty stores.

Stracciatella cheese should not be confused with the Roman soup of the same name, in which a blend of parmesan cheese, egg, and semolina flour is mixed into hot chicken stock until threads form. The name is also used for a type of gelato in which a fine stream of melted chocolate is mixed into the frozen dessert to form fine, threadlike bits. 

Uses

Use stracciatella as a topping for fresh artisan bread, crisp crostini, or other baked goods along with other condiments such as extra-virgin olive oil, pesto, roasted red peppers, or fresh herbs. It can also be used as a topping for saucy pasta dishes, as a filling for baked pastas, or even as a creamy, mild sauce for pasta on its own. The cheese can be served with fresh or fruit preserves as an appetizer or dessert.

Storage

Store freshly made stracciatella in a sealed, airtight plastic or glass container in the coldest part of your refrigerator for up to four days. In Italy, fresh stracciatella is considered past its prime if not consumed within 48 hours of production. If you are lucky enough to have access to freshly made stracciatella, it's best to enjoy the cheese as soon as possible after purchase.

Packaged, pre-made stracciatella can be stored unopened in your refrigerator until the best by date on the package, which may be up to 37 days depending on the brand. Consume the stracciatella within two days of opening. If the cheese has an off odor or mold is growing on the surface, it should be discarded. 

Stracciatella Recipes

• Caprese Salad
• Burrata Salad
• Prosciutto Pizza