Fried Mozzarella Balls Recipes

Steps:

• For the mozzarella balls: Preheat a deep fryer to 375 degrees F.
• Drain the mozzarella and pat dry.
• Add the flour to a casserole dish, the beaten eggs to a second, and whisk together the panko, parsley, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper in the third casserole dish.
• Dredge the mozzarella through the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes then fry in batches in the hot oil until golden and crispy, about 1 minute per batch. Drain on paper towel-lined sheet trays. Season with salt. Serve with the marinara cream sauce.
• For the sauce: Mix the red sauce, heavy cream and red pepper flakes together in a small bowl and microwave until warm, about 2 minutes. Use for dipping. Yield: 1 cup.

Steps:

• Combine water, butter, and salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer; pour in flour all at once and reduce heat to medium. Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until a dough starts coming together. Cook, scraping up and stirring the dough, for 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove from heat; transfer dough to a mixing bowl. Let cool until no longer hot but still very warm, 5 to 10 minutes. Add egg and season with cayenne and freshly ground black pepper. Whisk vigorously until mixture combines into a very soft, sticky dough. Switch to a spatula and scrape dough into a ball.
• Seal dough and spatula with plastic wrap and refrigerate in the bowl until cool, about 1 hour.
• In the meantime, season marinara sauce with oregano, red pepper flakes, balsamic vinegar in a small pot over medium heat. Add anchovy fillet. Stir together and bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 10 minutes; turn off heat and let sit until ready to use.
• Grate mozzarella cheese over the dough and stir to combine.
• Heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep fryer or heavy-duty pan over medium heat. Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (93 degrees C) or any temperature for keeping warm.
• Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of dough per puff and form into a football shape using two spoons. Fry puffs, 5 or 6 at a time, in the hot oil until browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Keep puffs warm in low oven while frying the rest. Serve with hot marinara sauce.

Steps:

• Heat 2 inches olive oil in a deep skillet over medium high heat. Cut each pound of mozzarella and smoked mozzarella into 16 cubes. Set up a breading station: flour, 2 eggs beaten with 1/3 cup milk, Italian bread crumbs mixed with a couple of handfuls of grated cheese. Reserve the chopped parsley. Roll fresh plain mozzarella in flour, dip in egg, then coat in bread crumbs. Bread all the plain mozzarella, then add chopped parsley to the bread crumbs. Coat the cubed smoked mozzarella in flour, egg, then Italian bread crumbs mixed with parsley. The chopped parsley will allow you to distinguish between the fresh and fresh smoked cheese once fried. Place herbs into hot oil and fry 30 to 45 seconds. Be careful not to stand over pan, the oil will spatter a little because of the water content in herbs. Remove herbs with a slotted kitchen tool and transfer to a paper towel lined plate to drain. Season immediately with fine salt. Fry the mozzarella bites in batches in a single layer. Cook until evenly deep golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and cool mozzarella bites on a paper towel-lined surface. Let stand and cool a few minutes so that the cheese will not be too runny when bitten into.
• For dipping sauce, heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil, garlic and crushed pepper flakes. Saute garlic and hot pepper 2 or 3 minutes, and add tomatoes. Season with salt.
• To assemble your serving plate, pile mozzarella bites, alternating them with fried herbs. Set the dipping sauce in a bowl along side the balls and pile bamboo skewers or party picks on the edge of the plate to spear and dip the bites.
• Add some mixed olives, celery sticks, long bread sticks to round out this finger food selection.

Steps:

• Heat about 11/2 inches oil to 360°F in a 3 1/2-to 4-quart heavy saucepan.
• Meanwhile, double-coat bocconcini by dipping in eggs, then in bread crumbs, and repeating. Transfer to a sheet of wax paper.
• Working in batches of 10, lower balls into oil with a slotted spoon and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown, about 30 seconds per batch. Transfer to paper towels to drain and season with salt. (Return oil to 360°F between batches.)