Happy Thursday all! I hope you had a good 4th filled with yummy food, fireflies, friends and fireworks. I ate all the things and drank all the beers, so I am basically eating salads and drinking water for the next week…although tacos and margs sound really good right about now…geez Annie, focus. Okay – I am nerdily excited to share my first-ever gluten-free recipe!
I have a fabulous new co-worker Paige, who was lovely enough to stand in for me while I was in Europe recently, so I was delighted to take on the challenge of making a gluten-free treat for her to show my appreciation of her help.
She had dropped a hint that she missed mozzarella sticks the most – 12 years without having one, I can’t even imagine!!! – so I thought I’d give a homemade recipe a go.
Sir Dave and I did a little research and took bits and pieces from several recipes to come up with the below, and I’ve got to say I think they turned out pretty yummy!
Prep Time: 1.5 hours
Cook time: 20 minutes
Servings: 35-40 mozzarella sticks
Ingredients
1 lb of whole milk mozzarella sticks, each cut in half
1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I used almond flour)
2 cups gluten-free breadcrumbs
1 tsp salt
1 tbs fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground black pepper
4 large eggs
2 tbs milk
vegetable oil for frying – amount depends on what you fry in, ensure the oil is 3 inches deep if using a dutch oven
marinara sauce for dipping
Get three large bowls out and fill one with the flour, one with the milk and eggs – whisked together, and one with the breadcrumbs, herbs, salt + pepper – mixed well. Get a sheet pan set out with a cooling rack on top; this is where you’ll put the battered mozzarella sticks that will go in the freezer for an hour – so make sure you have room ready in your freezer.
Now it’s time to batter the cheese. Start by dredging the cheese sticks, one at a time – first in the flour, then into the egg – allowing any excess to drop off – then into the breadcrumbs until well coated, then back into the egg mixture and back into the breadcrumbs for a second time until the sticks are well coated and no cheese is showing through the batter. Place on the rack you have set out, and repeat until all mozzarella sticks are coated. Pop into the freezer for at least one hour.
Just before you’re ready to take the sticks out of the freezer, pour the oil into a dutch oven with a frying thermometer set up, and bring the oil up to temperature to 360 degrees. Take the mozzarella sticks out of the freezer and gently start placing them into the oil in batches, ensuring not to crowd the pot. At max, I did 5 per batch in a large dutch oven. Fry for 1 – 1.5 minutes until golden brown, flipping around once to make sure they’re frying evenly.
Once they’re all fried up, simply serve with some marinara sauce – I use Prego Fresh Mushroom, I swear it’s the best for this kind of dipping situation. Or of course you can make homemade. 😀
If you can’t eat these all in one sitting, store in the freezer, and reheat on a sheet pan in the oven until heated through.
You can also easily include gluten in this recipe if you want by just swapping out the flour and breadcrumbs.
Cheers all!
