Fried Mozzarella with Smoked Tomato Sauce

Fried Mozzarella with Smoked Tomato Sauce

This is a perfect for a dinner party or for a light snack. They can be made in advance and reheated before serving but the end result is not quite as good. If you don't have a well ventilated oven or barbeque there's an alternative smoked tomato sauce recipe.

Makes 16 pieces

Ingredients
500 g pizza dough
2 large buffalo mozzarella
1 kg tomatoes, diced
1 cup smoking chips (Remove if using the quicker Alternative Tomato Sauce method below)
100 mls extra virgin olive oil

Alternative Tomato Sauce method (incorporate these additional ingredients):
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika

Simple pizza dough ingredients:
375g milk
1 sachet dried yeast
15g caster sugar
600g plain flour
50 mls extra virgin olive oil
10 g bread improver
10g salt

Method

Place the milk and sugar into a medium pot and warm to about 60 degrees so that its not boiling. This temperature will kick start the yeast which is most active at about 37 degrees
Place the flour, salt and oil into a medium mixing bowl
Add the yeast to the warm milk and using a whisk stir it in
Make a well in the flour mixture and pour the milk and yeast mixture into the well, gently mix using a fork. As it starts to come together use your hands to knead it until it is smooth and elastic
Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and leave in a warm place to rise and rest for 30 minutes
Lightly flour the bench and separate the dough into 30g pieces. Using a rolling pin roll each piece into round disks about ½ cm in thickness, these can be stored at room temperature in-between pieces of baking paper.

Smoked tomato sauce:
It is best to do this outside on a covered barbeque or in the Weber.
Place the chips on the hot barbeque grill and close the lid until they start to smoke.
Place the tomatoes on a perforated tray or use a cake rack. Cover the tomatoes and smoking chips with tin foil. Cook on high heat
Smoke the tomatoes for about 20 minutes or until they begin to soften and smell very smoky
Remove the tomatoes and blend in a blender or food processor
Place the tomato puree into a heavy based pot and cook to reduce by 2/3 until the tomato sauce is thick and most of the water has evaporated
Place the tomato back into the blender or food processor and blend on medium. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream as if making a mayonnaise
Remove and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar

Alternative smoked tomato sauce method:
Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic 2-3 minutes until soft
Add the smoked Paprika to the pan and cook stirring for 1 minute
Add the diced tomatoes and cook over a low heat until sauce is thick and reduced by half (15 mins)
Cool and season with salt and pepper

Fried mozzarella:
Preheat oil in a deep pot or a deepfryer to 170 c
Cut each mozzarella ball into 3 even slices and then cut each circle into 6 triangular pieces. Pinch dough into walnut sized pieces and shape into palm sized rounds about half a cm thick
Place a piece of mozzarella onto the dough
Wrap the dough around the cheese and shape into a ball
Place them on a tray in the refrigerator if you intend to store them for hours.
Place the balls into the hot oil and fry on medium for a few minutes until golden brown
Serve the balls as an antipasto with a generous dollop of smoked tomato sauce on top

Stefano di Pieri launches Australia Day Recipe featuring Goulburn Valley Tomatoes
To coincide with the launch of the season, renowned chef, Stefano di Pieri, has devised four Italian-inspired recipes using sun-ripened, vine-grown Goulburn Valley Tomatoes from north east Victoria for summer and in particular, Australia Day menus.

'I'm obsessed with using sun ripened tomatoes in my recipes at the moment, the intense flavour, the gorgeous colour" it really adds freshness on a hot summer day," says Stefano.

Frank Rossignuolo from Goulburn Valley Tomatoes is also very excited about this year's bumper crop: 'This summer, superior field fresh tomatoes from Victoria's Goulburn Valley will commence deliveries to markets from late December which is plenty of time for Australia Day celebrations, picnics and beyond! It looks like being a fantastic harvest and we can't wait to try Stefano's recipes!"

'It's very important to select good quality sun-ripened tomatoes to really get the flavour right in my recipes. My recommendation would be to look for redder fruit that have firm flesh and choose field grown GV tomatoes which have more taste," says Stefano.

Tomatoes are not only delicious but they are also great for your health. Below are Stefano's top tomato health tips:
Buy fresh field grown tomatoes and eat them within a week of picking for the most nutrition.
The more red the tomato, the greater the lycopene (an antioxidant) content.
To absorb more lycopene from the tomato cook or crush your tomatoes.
Adding a drizzle of olive oil also enables the body to absorb more of the antioxidants from the tomato.

Goulburn Valley tomatoes are delivered to retailers within 24 hours of picking; field-grown, sun-ripened tomatoes are in season from late December early January to mid May.

Goulburn Valley Tomatoes is Australia's primary supplier of fresh, sun-ripened, field grown tomatoes: For further information and recipes visit: www.gvtomatoes.com.au