NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

January 28, 1999

Prairie Fare: We're All Cheeseheads

Just in case you had any doubts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms that the answer is indeed "yes." We Americans are eating more cheese—a lot more cheese.

People at the USDA who know these things say that from 1970 to 1996, our consumption of Cheddar cheese increased 59 percent to 9.2 pounds per person (that's an average, of course). And get this: consumption of Italian cheeses quintupled during the same period, to 10.8 pounds per person. Per capita consumption of mozzarella—the main pizza cheese—stood at 8.5 pounds in 1996, more than seven times higher than in 1970.

Hmmm. Just thinking of pizza makes me hungry. In recent years, I've developed a real affection for vegetable pizzas, and one of the reasons why is because of the wide assortment locally available cheeses—particularly the smoked provolone and mozzarella varieties.

Those mellowly yellow-colored cheeses are the perfect complement to the array of fresh and fresh-frozen vegetables that adorn my homemade pizzas. And with the husky smoky flavor that each cheese possesses, a meat-loving pizza eater would have to take the second bite just to make sure there wasn't some morsel of pork or perhaps beef nestled among the delectable layers of color, texture and, of course, taste.

But I don't limit my pizza cheeses to only provolone and mozzarella. I also like to throw on some feta cheese, especially some that's been flavored with sun-dried tomatoes and basil. Montrachet (made from goat's milk) is another of my favorite pizza-topping cheeses. Of course, matching a cheese or a combination of cheeses with the right sauce is the essential step in creating a truly supreme pizza. What follows is an unusual recipe for pizza sauce, one that's green. Granted, pesto is more frequently a match for pasta than pizza, but try spreading pesto (sparingly) on homemade pizza dough, French or Italian bread, or one of those ready-made pizza crusts. You'll be surprised with the result, I guarantee.

Here's what I suggest as pizza ingredients to accompany the pesto: smoked provolone or mozzarella (grated), diced red peppers or thinly sliced fresh tomatoes, black olives, mushrooms, and purple onion rings. If you're feeling really flamboyant, in a food sort of way, toss on some artichoke hearts (frozen and thawed, not marinated).

Spinach-Sunflower Pesto
Yield: about 1 cup

Ingredients:
4 cups (packed) fresh spinach leaves, washed and dried
¼ cup roasted sunflower seeds
¼ cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup olive oil, preferably extra virgin
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure:
Blend spinach, sunflower seeds and cheese in food processor until almost smooth. With machine running, slowly add oil and continue processing until mixture is well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or refrigerate up to one day. After refrigerating, let warm at room temperature for one hour before using.

What's Your Take on This, Julie?

Green Bay Packer fans who wear chunks of faux cheese on their heads would be better off nibbling on the real stuff. Cheese is very nutritious, providing protein along with 200 to 300 milligrams of calcium per ounce.

Calcium recommendations have increased to at least 1,000 milligrams per day for adults. Children 9 to 18 should consume at least 1,300 milligrams per day, and older adults, 1200 milligrams. A cup of milk, for example, contains about 300 milligrams. But you do need to check the Nutrition Facts panel on food labels or you also may get a hefty dose of fat—5 to 10 grams per ounce of cheese.

In general, the softer the cheese, the lower the fat content. Some lower-fat picks are part-skim mozzarella and part-skim ricotta. If you are like many Americans and prefer regular cheeses to the reduced-fat or fat-free products, try limiting yourself to an ounce or shredding it to stretch the flavor.

Parmesan cheese provides flavor in the Italian-inspired topping featured this week. Each tablespoon of Spinach-Sunflower Pesto contains 60 calories and 5.5 grams of fat. Most of the fat is from the olive oil and is the heart-healthy monounsaturated form.

If you enjoy snacking on sunflower seeds, keep in mind that they're a concentrated source of calories. A quarter cup of sunflower seeds contains about 215 calories and 19 grams of fat.

Popeye fans will enjoy the spinach, which is an excellent source of minerals including iron and calcium. But spinach also contains oxalates that can bind to the minerals it contains and make them less available for the body to use, compared with minerals from other sources such as meat. Spinach also provides ample plant pigments called carotenes, which the body can convert to vitamin A.

Research has linked eating leafy greens to healthier eyes and reduced risk of macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness. So, moms were right all along: eat your vegetables. Even on your pizza.

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Sources: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136 and Julie Garden-Robinson (701) 231-7187

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