Mozzarella in Carrozza

Mozzarella sealed between bread, dipped in egg and fried so nothing escapes.

Egg. Not vegetarian — contains mozzarella whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 8 slices white bread, crusts off
• 250 g mozzarella, sliced and drained overnight
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 60 g plain flour
• 4 anchovy fillets, optional
• 600 ml sunflower oil, for frying, which is poured off
• 1 teaspoon salt

Method

1. DRAIN THE SLICED MOZZARELLA OVERNIGHT on a rack. Everything that goes wrong with this dish is water: wet cheese turns to steam, the steam finds the weakest seam, and the mozzarella goes into the oil instead of staying in the bread.
2. Lay cheese on four slices, keeping it a clear centimetre inside the edge, with an anchovy on top if using.
3. Close with the other slices and PRESS THE EDGES FIRMLY ALL ROUND WITH YOUR FINGERTIPS to weld the bread together. Press the middle too so the sandwich is thin.
4. Trim the sealed edges square with a knife, which closes them further.
5. Dip each one in flour, then in egg, and let it sit in the egg for a few seconds a side so the bread drinks a little. FLOUR BEFORE EGG, always — egg on bare bread slides off in the pan.
6. Fry in 2 cm of oil at 170C, 90 seconds a side, pressing the edges down with a spatula.
7. Drain, salt, and eat within a minute or two, while the inside still pulls.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes