By CARLY WEAVER
Dirty Mozzarella Martinis Switch Olive Juice For Pesto
Located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Annabella’s House of Mozzarella specializes in a mozzarella martini, an Italian spin on a dirty martini that includes mozzarella.
What typically makes a martini dirty is the addition of olive brine into the cocktail's base of gin or vodka and vermouth, but Annabella's swaps the olive juice for a bit of pesto.
On the restaurant's TikTok page, one of its bartenders shows how this specialty cocktail is crafted and describes the drink as "a creamy dirty martini."
For the cheesy element in the drink, the restaurant uses a bit of cream that's skimmed from the top of the mozzarella they make in-house. The other ingredients are vodka and pesto.
The slightly acidic mozzarella cream is enhanced by a few drops of fresh homemade pesto, and the resulting smooth, milky drink infuses a subtle cheesy flavor into the strong vodka.