| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 2 hr 40 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Inactive: | 2 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
| Yield: | 6 to 8 servings (makes about 56 pieces) |
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Italian-style dried breadcrumbs
- 1 1/3 cups freshly grated Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 (16-ounce) blocks pasteurized mozzarella cut into 4 by 1/2-inch sticks
- 4 large eggs, beaten to blend
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
- 4 cups Marinara Sauce, recipe follows
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 small onions, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
- 2 (32 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
- 2 dried bay leaves
Instructions
- Stir the bread crumbs, 1 cup of Parmesan and 1 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl to blend. Dip the cheese in the eggs to coat completely and allow the excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Coat the cheese in the bread crumb mixture, patting to adhere and coat completely. Place the cheese sticks on a baking sheet. Repeat dipping the cheese sticks in the egg and bread crumb mixture to coat a second time. Cover and freeze until frozen, about 2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer the fried cheese to plates. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese and serve with the Marinara Sauce.
- In a large casserole pot, heat the oil over a medium-high flame. Add the onions and garlic and saute until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrots, and 1/2 teaspoon of each salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bay leaves, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1 hour. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Season the sauce with more salt and pepper, to taste. (The sauce can be made 1 day ahead. Cool, then cover and refrigerate. Rewarm over medium heat before using.)
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 1133 |
| Total Fat | 91 g |
| Saturated Fat | 25 g |
| Carbohydrates | 38 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 6 g |
| Sugar | 14 g |
| Protein | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 199 mg |
| Sodium | 1677 mg |
Reviews
I made this using mozzarella sticks that I froze before breading, then followed the rest of the directions….they were delicious!
Delicious delicious
Easy steps
Awesome,,simple!!
Soooooo good!
What brand mozzarella did you use, have not seen mozzarella packaged that way in the stores in NJ…thank you
look delicious…so know it tastes delicious plus it season very good with flavor
This recipe saved my cooking exam
Kudos to those of you who had good results. Not sure why I didn’t but after a minute on each side mine were still frozen so I left them in for another minute and they were softened but not stringy like hers were. Luckily I only did a few to see how they came out! Won’t do this again.
So, the photo displayed on this recipe I believe must have still been frozen inside they just Battered once and fried for just a second to get the photo. Because you must double breading on these and be careful not to smash and expose the cheese. When you first do the breading it is a bit delicate. It’s not as hard as it sounds. You just need to keep your hands clean, one for egg, one for breading. The breading on mine was fairly thick. It tasted great do not be afraid to put too much breading. Make sure you fry these on a lower temperature than you normally fry things. They cook very fast on the outside mine were brown within seconds. Do not play with them or move them around the pan because if you get a hole in the breading your cheese Will come out. Sounds like a lot of trouble but really it’s not and I love cheese sticks so much it was very much worth the effort. I used bottled Parmesan cheese and breaded half with plain breadcrumbs and half with seasoned. I always season my own breadcrumbs with Italian seasoning. The seasoned ones were better. It was actually super simple and I made marinara sauce to go with them and it was wonderful. I make a simple marinara by crushing a can of tomatoes with some olive oil 1/8 to a 1/4 cup and cook it for 10 minutes adding salt and sugar to my taste. It was absolutely wonderful.