Mozzarella in carrozza: the original recipe
Like many of Italy’s most delicious recipes, mozzarella in carrozza (“mozzarella in the carriage”) has humble origins too.
The idea comes from the custom among less well-off families, who could not afford to waste food, to use up stale bread and no-longer fresh mozzarella in a new and tasty dish. Over time the recipe for mozzarella in carrozza conquered Lazio kitchens, to establish itself as a classic too in Roman tradition. The name “mozzarella in carrozza” refers to the fact that the two slices of bread form the carriage, within which the cheese travels.
Ingredients
- 6 slices white bread, crusts removed
- 1 fist-sized ball mozzarella, cut into approximately 1/4-inch slices, then strips
- 4 flat anchovy fillets, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil, for frying
How to make mozzarella in carrozza
Make sandwiches out of the bread and mozzarella, leaving a little margin around the edges unfilled with cheese and the anchovies fillet, and press the edges together with your fingers to help seal. Pour the milk into 1 soup bowl, the flour into another, and beat the egg with salt and pepper in another. Warm the oil in the frying pan over medium heat. Dunk the sandwiches briefly, 1 by 1, in the milk, then dredge in the flour, then dip in the beaten egg. Fry in hot oil on each side until crisp and golden and remove to a paper towel.
