Fried Mozzarella Balls

I love fried cheese. Aaron loves fried cheese. I’m fairly sure even vegans love fried cheese, they just don’t eat it. I found this recipe on epicurious in one of their Oscar menu sections, but instead of an Oscar party, it was for Aaron’s birthday party! Yes, welcome to part 2. Besides, Aaron’s birthday was much more interesting than last night’s *yawn* Oscars. But enough of that.

These are actually much easier to do than I thought they would be. My hands did get messy and my friend Bryan helped me out as the party had already started when I was frying these up. Another result of party in motion was that I only got one picture of these and while they were frying. There’s a picture on the original recipe page, so check that out. Mine were approximately like those.

Fried Mozzarella Balls from Gourmet via epicurious.com:

Makes about 3 dozen. I think I had closer to 30, but I did eat some while frying, so who knows?

About 5 cups vegetable oil (I used regular olive oil, not extra virgin, as it has a decent smoke point)
1 pound drained marinated bocconcini (small mozzarella balls), patted dry (for me this was 2 8 oz. containers and there were about 9 left when I stopped)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup plain fine dry bread crumbs

The recipe also talks about using a deep-fat thermometer. I only have a meat one and these were fine. The average cook can tell when the oil is very hot and ready to go. Plus, it’s not like the cheese will be underdone. So don’t worry about that.

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Mine’s a 4 quart.



Meanwhile, double-coat bocconcini by dipping in eggs, then in bread crumbs, and repeating. Your hands will get messy. Toss them into the oil, wash hands, and repeat.
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. A few of mine burst and tried to stick to the paper towels. They were still tasty once removed. The original recipe also says to season with salt here, but I think that’s unnecessary. If you get a decent quality mozzarella, a decent quality bread crumb, and good eggs, why add salt? The mozzarella is key. Don’t use a cheap one as they don’t melt as well and they don’t taste as good.

Serve immediately as they are best warm, although some of my friends, like Carrina, did enjoy them a little colder. These are a wonderful, wonderful appetizer. They look pretty, they taste great, and it’s fried cheese! One of the reviewers on epicurious said they used them in place of meatballs for spaghetti and meatballs. How perfect! I may do that sometime, possible combined with the mini turkey meatballs I’ll be posting about later.