Caciocavallo
A pasta filata cheese similar in behaviour to provolone, traditional to Southern Italy and used in some sfincione recipes.
- Milk
- Cow's milk
- Moisture
- low
- Fat
- moderate
- Stretch
- moderate
- Browning
- moderate
- Oil release
- moderate
- Salt
- moderate
- Use timing
- pre bake
- Heat tolerance
- moderate
- Burn risk
- low
Melt behaviour
Melts smoothly with moderate stretch and a savoury, slightly tangy flavour, similar in behaviour to provolone
Suits moderate bakes typical of Southern Italian tray and pan styles, and translates well to a domestic oven at the same moderate temperature
Storage and preparation
Shreds or slices well; traditionally used in Southern Italian tray pizzas including sfincione
Common problems
- Outside Southern Italy and specialist Italian delis, genuine caciocavallo can be hard to source, which is why provolone substitution is so common
- Its behaviour is close enough to provolone that mislabelling the two in a recipe rarely causes a real problem, but the flavour is subtly tangier
Substitutions
- provolone (widely available, similar behaviour)
What it brings to a pizza
Moderate. Savoury and slightly tangy, it gives a tray pizza such as sfincione a sharper cheese note than mozzarella would.
- Salt
- Moderate
- Acidity
- LowWeaker inference — varies by productA slight lactic tang, more in aged cheeses.
- Savoury depth
- ModerateWeaker inference — varies by productRises with ageing.
- Aromatic intensity
- Moderate
- Richness
- Moderate
- Water it releases
- Low
- Fat it renders
- Moderate
Ordinal levels, not measurements. Salt, fat, water and the basic tastes come from this ingredient’s profile above; the rest is a strong culinary inference unless marked otherwise. Anything not listed is not assessed. Aroma: aged cheese.
Sold young and mild or aged and sharp, and sometimes smoked; the profile assumes a moderately aged, unsmoked cheese.
Pairs well, and why
- Crushed tomato sauce (plausible, complementary in principle) — Crushed tomato sauce brings freshness against Caciocavallo's richness.
- Extra virgin olive oil (finishing) (plausible, complementary in principle) — Extra virgin olive oil (finishing) brings freshness against Caciocavallo's richness.
- Fresh arugula (rocket) (plausible, complementary in principle) — Fresh arugula (rocket) brings freshness against Caciocavallo's richness.
- Cooked tomato sauce (good, commonly paired) — PizzaHQ's catalogue records Caciocavallo and Cooked tomato sauce as used together.
- Blue cheese (plausible, reinforcing in principle) — Shared aroma (aged dairy) — they reinforce one character.
If you swap it
The closest alternatives by composition — and what else changes, so you know what to adjust.
- Cheddar — less stretch
- Grana Padano — less acidity, less stretch, less browning
- Provolone — less acidity, more pungency, more creaminess
Every pairing for Caciocavallo, or build a pizza around it · Check a whole pizza’s balance
Used in these styles
Evidence
Caciocavallo used in Southern Italian tray pizzas such as sfincione is documented regional practice, with behaviour closely comparable to provolone.
Editorial inference — no single source states this directly.