In our house, we love snacks and appetizers. Dinner parties and cook-outs are perfect for whipping up our favorite guilty pleasures. What other time can you justify a plate full of homemade-deep-fried-cheese-sticks? Well, Sunday afternoon football might be the other time. And we have taken advantage off both occasions with this delicious recipe!
Homemade mozzarella sticks (Bonus : marinara dipping sauce!)
These seriously are so easy to make! And they taste way better than their mass produced cousins. Only 4 ingredients – cheese, bread crumbs, eggs and flour! In fact, this one is really more technique than recipe.
1. Take one block of mozzarella cheese, the big block, but not the fresh ball. And get the whole milk version. Trust me. The low fat variety will yield a less tasty stick. It’s not like you are gonna eat these every day. Its ok. 🙂 Cut the block into sticks. I usually cut it into 1/4’s across then each slice into 4-5 pieces.
2. In a bowl, whisk one egg and a splash of water. On a separate plate, measure our 1 – 1.5c of flour. Finally, on a 3rd plate 1.5 – 2c of italian breadcrumbs.
3. Take each cheese stick, roll it in the flour, dip it into the egg, roll it in the bread crumbs. Place on a freezer proof plate.
4. Repeat with each piece of cheese.
5. Ok, this is an important step – Freeze the sticks for 10-15 mins. This helps the cheese stay together when fried.
6. Warm (2-3 inches) oil in a deep fryer or dutch oven to 350 degrees.
7. Fry each stick for just a few mins – until golden brown. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese!
If you want to, you can leave these sticks in the freezer, before frying, for a week or so. We served them last weekend and had a few leftover that we fried today. They came out just as yummy. No thawing needed, but you will need to fry a little longer – so watch the temp to insure you don’t burn them!
Bonus : Marinara Dipping Sauce
1 14oz can of crushed tomatoes with basil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp sugar (or to taste, depending on your tomatoes)
salt to taste
1/2c diced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
Saute onion and garlic together.
Add tomatoes, seasoning and sugar.
Let simmer together for 15 mins – or you can let it hang out until you are ready to use (on low setting). If it gets too thick, add a splash of water and stir!
Wake Up Wednesday link up here!
enJOY!
One.1.Northwood 