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Pan Fried Scarmoza Sticks with Marinara Sauce
So first off, let’s address the Elephant in the room. Scarmoza. The short and sweet of it is that it’s an Italian cheese that is similar in taste and consistency to Mozzarella.
If you want to learn more about it, here is the obligatory wiki
Where the hell do you get Scarmoza?
You can probably get it from a Trader Joe’s or a store similar to that. I received mine from the company that I get all my produce, meat, dairy, and bread from.
That company is Friends and Farms, LLC.
What the hell is Friends and Farms you ask?
From their website:
Friends & Farms offers a new way to buy food from regional farmers and producers. Each week we select the freshest items from the season’s bounty, including meats, seafood, dairy, bread and fruits and vegetables, and build a basket of groceries for your table. Our baskets include the ingredients for wholesome, delicious meals and are available in different sizes to suit your needs. We offer you high value and quality at a fair price – all while supporting our regional food producers.
~ https://www.friendsandfarms.com/
I highly recommend them if you live in the Baltimore Metro area. They’ve cut our food bill in half, all while increasing the quality of our cooking/food.
Shut your face! Back to the Fried Cheese!
Fried Scarmoza with Marinara Sauce Recipe:
Ingredients:
1- Ball of Scarmoza Cheese
1- Cup of Italian Breading (or any breading you desire)
2- Eggs
Enough Peanut or Coconut Oil for Frying in a cast iron or stainless steel skillet. Avoid Non-stick if you can.
1- Marinara sauce, you can make it from scratch or if you are short on time, Trader Joe’s makes a solid Organic Marinara Sauce.
Steps:
1- So the trick to any fried cheese concoction is freezing the cheese before you bread it. Once you take it out of the wrapping and have sliced in the desired size you want. Wrap it in plastic wrap and then pop them in the freezer for an hour or more. The longer you freeze them the easier it’ll be to handle them.
2– Once they are out of the freezer, remove the plastic from them and dredge them in your eggs and then the breadcrumbs.
3– Once everything is breaded and ready to go, heat your oil to a hot enough temperature that a test drop sizzles up really fast. The trick is to get the cheese in and out fairly quickly, just long enough to brown the breading.
4-Once your oil is hot enough, start placing the breaded cheese into the oil. Only flip your cheese sticks once as they don’t have the best structural integrity. Once it’s golden brown all the way around you can remove it from the oil.
5– Let it cool for a couple of minutes so you don’t burn your face off, you can serve it with Marinara or eat it by itself.
Enjoy!
