Fried mozzarella cheese sandwich

Queen of all appetizers, must-try street food: a look at the fried mozzarella sandwich is enough to get tempted! Not for nothing, it also is one of the most beloved appetizers at Cantina Do Spade.
Preparazione: 20 min
Cottura: 20 min
Dosi per: 8 persone

Ingredienti

00 flour, 200 gr
Egg, 1
Milk, ½ glass
Sparkling water, ½ glass
Brewer's yeast, 20 gr
Salt and pepper, q.s.
Sliced bread, 8 slices
Mozzarella cheese, 8 slices
Cooked ham or anchovies, 4
Olive oil, q.s.

Preparazione

Here we'll propose you the fried mozzarella sandwich recipe in the Venetian version.

  • Let's start by preparing the batter: beat the egg and mix it with water, milk, brewer's yeast, salt, pepper and flour. The outcome has to be a smooth batter, without lumps. Leave it rest for one hour.
  • Meanwhile, get the mozzarella ready: cut in half the bread slices and place a mozzarella slice upon each of them.
  • Place some ham or an anchovy on half the slices. Close the mozzarella, batter them and fry them in plenty of boiling oil.
  • The «mozzarelle in carrozza» will be ready, when they are browned on both sides. Enjoy your meal and don't forget you can also find them hot and melting in our restaurant!

In Naples, fried mozzarella sandwich are only prepared with sliced bread and mozzarella cheese, in Venice you can also find them with anchovies and ham. In the Neapolitan recipe uses stal bread, whereas the Venetian use chooses sliced bread or bread for sandwiches. In the region of Campania, the mozzarella sandwich get passed first in the flour, then in the egg. In Venice, the sandwich is battered. Anyway, in both cases the process ends with frying.

Where does this recipe come from?

The fried mozzarella sandwich wasn’t born in Venice: indeed this tasty appetizer is originally from Naples, but Venice added to it its unmistakable touch, that made it even more compelling. It is difficult not to find them in a Venetian bacaro. It seems this dish was born in the early 19th century as a typical example of simple cooking, as it offered a way to eat stale bread and a no longer fresh cheese, by frying these ingredients together.