Air fryer mozzarella sticks
The key to creating restaurant-style, crispy, breadcrumbed mozzarella sticks in the air fryer is to cook them from frozen: give them at least 30 minutes in the freezer. They鈥檙e delicious served with a spicy tomato ketchup.
Ingredients
- 400g block mozzarella cucina
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1 large free-range egg
- 40驳/1陆辞锄 panko breadcrumbs
- olive oil cooking spray
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Cut the mozzarella into strips, roughly 1.5cm/鈪漣n wide, and pat dry using kitchen paper.
In a shallow dish, mix together the flour and the garlic granules. In another dish, beat the egg with a generous amount of salt and pepper. Spread the breadcrumbs in a third dish.
Roll the mozzarella strips in flour, then in egg, then in flour and egg again, to create a double coating. Make sure each piece is totally covered in flour each time; any gaps will cause the mozzarella sticks to leak in the air fryer. Coat well in the panko breadcrumbs.
Freeze for at least 30 minutes until solid.
Spray the bottom of the air fryer basket with olive oil spray and arrange a single layer of mozzarella sticks in the bottom. Spray the top of the mozzarella sticks with oil before air-frying for 10 minutes at 200C. Repeat until all the mozzarella sticks are cooked, keeping each batch warm, then serve immediately.
Recipe Tips
Mozzarella cucina is a firm, low-moisture cooking mozzarella sold in a block. Often labelled as ideal for pizza, it is shrink-wrapped rather than packed in whey.
This recipe was tested working in two batches in a 3.2 litre/5陆 pint basket air fryer; in a larger air fryer the sticks can be cooked in one batch. It is not suited to a model fitted with a stirring paddle.
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