I have a secret. A deep dark secret. I’m in love…and not with my husband. Sorry babe. No I’m in love with this fried mozzarella caprese salad.
I mean really what’s not to love about a classic dish that gets an updated based on melted, fried cheese?
Plus, it’s salad, and salad is healthy by the sheer fact it’s salad right?
Ok, maybe not. I may be spending too much time these days reasoning with a toddler. It’s totally shifted my sense of logic.
But in this case, I like the way my logic has shifted. It works in my favor. Fried mozzarella caprese salad=healthy. Because salad. Instant justification.
So now you can dig into this easy dish guilt free and enjoy it. There’s just so much to love about it. I mean it’s essentially fried mozzarella topped with fresh from the vine tomatoes and a pesto drizzle. The gooey cheese and the sweet tomatoes are perfect. And the pesto drizzle? Yes please! I do believe I have mentioned how much I love pesto one or two times before.
And let’s talk tomatoes for a minute. Summer is prime time for tomatoes. If you don’t like grocery store tomatoes, try going to a farm stand or farmer’s market and buying a tomato there. You could also try your hand at growing your own. A fresh tomato is totally different than a grocery store tomato. They are sweet, juicy, and firm all at the same time. A huge step above the sad tomatoes in the produce section.
Plus, it takes only a quick 10 minutes of prep before you are indulging in melted cheese heaven, making it perfect for a busy weeknight. But it’s pretty enough and different enough to serve for company too.
Even Goose, who is going through a picky phase, ate this. I shouldn’t be surprised. She loves mozzarella sticks. This is just a grown up take on that. I like encouraging grown up tastes. It makes me feel so much better about the mass amounts of goldfish and crayons she eats.
Ingredients
- 8 ounce ball of fresh mozzarella
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup of bread crumbs*
- 1/4 cup of flour**
- 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tomatoes
- tablespoon of olive oil
For the Pesto
- 1/2 cup fresh basil
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup of pine nuts or walnuts
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium heat in a pan on the stove top.
- While the pan is heating up, lightly beat an egg and mix together the bread crumbs, salt and pepper, and parmesan cheese in a small bowl.
- Add flour to another small bowl.
- Dip mozarella cheese into flour, then dip in egg, and then coat in the bread crumbs. Repeat until all cheese is coated.
- Put all cheese in together. Cook each side for about 2 minutes.
For Pesto Sauce
- Combine all ingredients in blender or food processor and mix until blended together.
Notes
** I used gluten free bread crumbs. Again, this recipe will work with regular bread crumbs as well.
[…] been on a real tomato kick recently. I put them in everything. I’ve been eating caprese salad on the reg. And all the tomato pasta. Bruschetta pasta obviously because it’s a summer […]
[…] beauty. It makes anything better. I mean there’s plain Caprese salad and then there’s fried mozzarella Caprese salad, which is infinitely better due to the goo factor of the fried […]
[…] have a serious thing for caprese. Really, I love all things caprese like fried mozzarella caprese salad. I even love caprese so much that we had it at our wedding a million years […]
This looks great! You had me at “fried mozzarella.”
Lol I know right?
Ok is this acceptable to have for breakfast because I’m drooling right now!
Sure! My breakfast habits include cheesecake so I think salad works just fine.
Your husband won’t be mad if you’re gonna share with him your newfound love for this caprese salad! ๐ Yum!
Yum! I cannot wait to try this myself. I want to eat the pictures!
I don’t know if the pictures taste as good as the real deal… ๐
This looks so yummy!!! Want to make
This looks out of this world! So excited to try this with basil and tomatoes right from my garden!
[…] Fried Mozzarella Caprese Salad […]
[…] here on Seasoned Sprinkles for the recipe and […]
Wow, you had me at “fried”, lol. This caprese salad is fabulous and the fried cheese knocks it out of the park. Take care.
Lol, a woman after my own heart. Fried cheese makes everything better.
OMG. These look amazing! I’m pinning ASAP!
This is basically all I need in life.
Me too.
Yum! Get in my belly!
OMG, beyond yum!
This looks amazing!!! I am a big mozzarella fan so will definitely try this out. Yum!!
This looks amazing, and I am in luck because I just happen to have fresh mozzarella! Guess whats for dinner?!
I hope you loved it!