Reverse Spherification Mozzarella w/ Pesto & Baby Heirloom Tomatoes

And now for some more science-y fun...

Spherification is the culinary process of shaping a liquid into spherical shapes.  In the traditional method, a sodium alginate is added to a liquid, which when then dropped into a calcium solution will form an encasing around the liquid, thus creating a "caviar" of sorts.

In a reverse spherification, which would apply to a solution that holds calcium, such as cheese, you instead create a concentration of calcium in your mixture, and drop that into a sodium alginate solution to create your spheres.  Confused yet?  I know I am, but aside from going back to high school and taking a chem class, I'm just going to be satisfied by the fact that this works.

To make the Buffalo Mozzarella Spheres...

• 250g Buffalo Mozzarella
• 150g Heavy Cream
• 50g Milk
• 5g Calcium Lactate

In all honesty, the first time I tried this, I stuck to mixing with an immersion blender, but the faster way?  Just blend that stuff up!  I did this a day or so ahead of time so that the mixture would have time to settle & mellow in the fridge.  On the day of, I added a little more milk to soften up the cheese & make the whole thing more soup-y.  It worked well to make the mozzarella extremely smooth.

Setting Bath

• 1L Water
• 5g Sodium Alginate

Also blended up the setting bath & then let it sit for an hour or two so the bubbles could escape.

To form the balls, you drop a spoonful of the mixture into the setting bath & let it "cook" for 1-2 minutes.  Then using a slotted spoon, you scoop out the Sphere, and rinse it in a cold water bath.

I garnished it with baby Heirloom Tomatoes & a delicious pesto I found at the farmers market!

If you want to see me in action...

video via punky express