Mozzarella en Carozza w/ Tomato Rocket Sauce{Italian-Style Grilled Cheese}

This, for me, is the ultimate grilled cheese. Mozzarella en Carozza is Italian for ‘Mozzarella in a carriage’. That carriage being  2 layers of bread that are dipped in beaten eggs, coated in breadcrumbs, and then fried into a crispy, melty pocket of happiness. Fresh mozzarella is used to stuff the bread with and it melts in such a lovely way.

I’m starting to sound like I’m in love with this dish. Well, I am. It’s been a long time favorite and everyone needs to know of it’s existence. Once you’ve tried it you’ll wonder how you could ever go back to plain grilled cheese.

I serve these sandwiches with a fresh tomato and rocket sauce. It’s simple….5 ingredient simple. And it’s what makes this dish memorable. Olive oil, minced onion, garlic, fresh tomatoes and a generous amount of rocket(also called arugula) give the mozzarella en carozza the added hit of flavor and acidity they need and the pairing of the two is magical. It really is.

If you haven’t had arugula before, you can get it almost anywhere. I was lucky enough to receive mine from Organicgirl, who sent me their arugula to try out. Organicgirl’s greens are just what they claim to be. Organic. Which for me is a big plus and something I try to purchase when I can. Also, all of their greens are triple washed, which for all of us means straight from the clamshell to the pot(or bowl)! No messing with salad spinners or colanders.

And their greens are super fresh. Don’t you hate it when you get a tub of greens from the store, open them up and find that half of the leaves are slimy and inedible? Not the case with Organicgirls, they are what they claim to be: Good Clean Greens. And they are so very fresh. Love that!

They offer a lot of varieties of greens as well. There are 12 different varieties and blends that they carry and they have my favorite. Baby Kale. Remember this recipe? Look for the Organicgirl label and you’ll be sure to find baby kale, I know it’s not the easiest baby green to find.

Arugula is a little bit peppery in flavor and is a very tender baby green. I love it in salads as well as wilted into sauces.

Haven’t tried it yet? Well then it’s your lucky day. Organicgirl is giving away a clamshell of their Arugula to three lucky readers! So hurry up and enter at the bottom of this post! If you’ve ever wanted to try out arugula or would just love to try out Organicgirl’s good clean greens, here is an awesome opportunity to do so!

Mozzarella en Carozza w/ Tomato Rocket Sauce

 

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Ingredients

• ⅓ C. Olive Oil, divided
• 1 large onion, minced
• 1 t. Coarse Salt
• Dash White Pepper
• 3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• 6 Tomatoes, diced
• 3 oz. Fresh Arugula
• 16 slices Bread
• 8 oz. Fresh Mozzarella(1 ball), cut into 8 round slices
• 4 Eggs
• ¼ C. Milk
• ½ t. Salt
• 7 oz. Italian Seasoned Breadcrumbs
• Oil, for frying

Instructions

1. For the sauce: Add 2 T. Of the olive oil to a medium saucepan. Bring to medium/high heat. Add the minced onion, 1 t. salt, and white pepper to the pan. Saute the onion for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for another 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes to the pan and simmer for 20 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining olive oil(about ¼ C.) to the sauce and simmer for another minute or two, stirring well to incorporate the oil. At this point the tomatoes should have given up all of their juice and the sauce should be quite thick.
2. Add the arugula to the sauce and toss through until the arugula is just wilted. Check seasonings and add salt if needed.
3. For the sandwiches:
4. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl. Set aside.
5. In another bowl, beat together well the eggs, milk, and ½ t. salt. Set aside.
6. Using a circular cutter almost as large as your bread slices, cut circles out of each slice of bread. Save the scraps to use for breadcrumbs at another time. You can leave the bread in a square shape, if you like, just cut off the crusts.
7. Lay out two circles of bread on your work surface. Place one slice of mozzarella in the middle of one of the bread rounds. Place the other bread round on top of the cheese and press both slices of bread together. Using the tines of a fork, seal the edges of the bread together by pressing them firmly into the bread, all the way around. Repeat this with the remaining bread.
8. Fill a frying pan with ½" of canola or vegetable oil and bring to medium/high heat.
9. Dip one sandwich into the egg mixture and coat on both sides. Tap off the excess mixture and then place in the bowl of breadcrumbs. Pat the breadcrumbs into the sandwich, coating both sides. Carefully place the breaded sandwich in the hot oil and fry on both sides, until golden brown. Watch the oil closely and adjust the heat to keep from burning. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches. Serve immediately with the tomato rocket sauce.

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