Earlier this week, I had a craving for mozzarella sticks; but since it was a Monday night and I was sober, the ones they sell at the falafel cart were not an option. So I decided to attempt my own (hopefully marginally healhier ) version. All of the ingredients are available at Weshop, and all it took was a half hour of fun culinary experimentation with friends.

Ingredients:

Tub of mozzarella balls in water (bocconcini in Italian)
2 eggs
Flour, approximately half  a cup
Enough slices of stale bread, white or wholewheat, to make 2 cups of breadcrumbs
Rosemary
Salt and pepper
Oil to fry

Instructions:

First, make the bread crumbs. Crumble the stale bread with your hands until the crumbs are as small as you can make them. Don’t press too hard, or you’ll make weird little doughy clumps of bread. Spread the crumbs out on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy-crunchy. About halfway through, shake the baking tray so they don’t burn underneath.

While your bread crumbs are browning, whisk the eggs together in a bowl and put the flour in another bowl. When the bread crumbs are done, add salt, pepper, and dried rosemary, and place in a third bowl. If you find that some of the crumbs are too large, rub the mixture between your hands and the now-crisp crumbs will easily crumble into finer pieces.

You can cut the mozzarella balls in half for a perfect bite-size treat or leave them whole. First, roll each one in the flour and then dip them in the egg. Then roll the mozzarella around in the bread crumb mixture, making sure it is entirely covered in a thick coating of bread crumbs. Repeat this step until all the mozzarella balls are crumbed and waiting on a plate or tray.

Stick the whole tray in the freezer for 15 minutes. This step is crucial: if the mozzarella balls are cold, they’re less likely to turn into hot cheese gobbets and explode while you’re frying them (it might sound yummy, but boiling cheese flying at your face is probably a safety hazard). Remove the balls from the freezer and fry them in batches, turning them as they brown.

We ate our just-fried delicious crispy melty mozzarella balls over a garden salad with sliced avocado and hot sauce. It was the perfect appetizer for our homemade prosciutto pizza. (I highly recommend  you learn from our mistakes and try to remember to add the yeast to the pizza dough!) If you’re a traditionalist, you can always dip the balls in tomato sauce, but just know that you’re being a little boring.