# Low-temperature-melting cheese



## maxberge (Jun 20, 2006)

Hello chefs!

I'm looking for a cheese that melts easily to make a pasta sauce (tomato soup + cheese)

What are the most widely used?

Thanks. Max


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## velochic (Jun 25, 2006)

Any soft cheese would melt easily.  How about gorgonzola?  That makes a nice pasta sauce.


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## Ishbel (Jun 25, 2006)

Any of the softer Italian cheeses would be good with a tomato.pasta dish, mozarella or lots of freshly cut parmesan.


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## VegasDramaQueen (Jun 25, 2006)

_I love using brie for melting.  It melts immediately and makes a great tasting sauce._


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## BreezyCooking (Jun 25, 2006)

I would think that tomato soup would make a pasta sauce that was a bit on the sweet side.  Have you thought of using canned tomato puree instead?


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## jennyema (Jun 26, 2006)

Mozarella is a nice melting cheese but tends to be stringy, IMO.

U R trying to make pasta sauce ?  

Asiago, pecorino romano, parmesan, aged provolone will all melt nicely in pasta sauce.  Make your sauce (and do consider using tomato sauce or puree or canned cooked tomatoes instead of soup) and take it off the heat.  While still hot stir in some shredded cheese.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Jun 26, 2006)

Cheddar melts well, if not put into boiling sauce, and it's grated fine.  Cottage cheese, cream cheese, havarti, gruyere, brie, fetta, farmer's cheese, colby, monterey-jack cheese, muenster, and the hard cheese all melt very well if they are grated fine and added slowly to the sauce while mixing.  The cottage cheese should be either blended, or pushed through a sieve bevore adding.

But remember, each of the cheeses has a distinctive flavor that will either go well with your sauce or not, depending on the other flavors.  For instance, I might use a mild and milky cheese like muenster in a red sauce with clams.  But I wouldn't use cheddar in that sauce.  I would instead use cheddar in something that had lots of pungeant flavor, either Mediteranean or Mexican, including enchilada sauce, or an oregano/basil sauce with black olives and red pepper.

So, there is no one-best cheese. It really depends on the other flavors you wish to add.  And the only way you are really going to learn is just to try them with varied sauces.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North


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