Like most Italian American families mine was close. Not just emotionally but physically. No grandparent lived more than 10 minutes away at any time. And this ensured that a large percentage of my childhood was spent in their homes.
It also meant that a large percentage of my childhood was spent stuffed: the claims of “I just ate” or “I’m already really full” were no match for an Italian grandmother’s unrelenting instinct to feed her grandchildren. If I admitted to being even a little hungry then the floodgates were open. Eggplant lasagna, sherry chicken, fried zucchini, garlic bread. But if I protested and pushed back, I might only get a “little snack.”
One of these little snacks was Mozzarella Encarozza, or “mozzarella and cutouts” A name created by the collaboration of my family’s strong southern Italian accent and my childhood brain. Not exactly little, it was essentially Italian grilled cheese: mozzarella in between two slices of bread, coated in egg, lightly fried in olive oil, then cut into “soldiers” for child-friendly consumption and/or tomato sauce dipping.
Usually there was no special seasoning or fanfare to this dish – but for a more adult audience, it might be more interesting to add some salt, pepper, basil or oregano to taste.
Mozzarella Encarozza
Ingredients
- 2 slices of bread
- 2 oz Marinara Sauce
- 1 Egg
- ¼ cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 TBSP butter
- Pinch of Pepper
Instructions
- Toast the bread on both sides in a toaster.
- Scramble egg, and pepper in a bowl. Set Aside.
- Once Bread is toasted, take it out of the toaster and put the mozzarella cheese in the center. Close the sandwich and dip each side of the sandwich in the egg mixture to get an even coating on the outside of the sandwich bread. Set Aside.
- Heat butter in a frying pan, until melted. Add the egg battered sandwich with a lid for 3 mins until the bottom side is golden brown. Then flip it, and cook an additional 3 mins until the bottom side is golden brown and the cheese on the inside is melted.
- Remove the sandwich from the frying pan and slice into bite sized pieces.
- Heat the Sauce, until hot.
- Serve Sandwich slices with the side of sauce to dip in.
