Mozzarella Sticks for Your Superbowl Party
With the Superbowl coming in about 10 days, it’s time to start planning your appetizers. If you’re hosting a party, the appetizers need to be tasty and easy, right? So, I tried something off the top of my head and it was super easy and delicious.
Seriously Easy!
This is SO easy you don’t need a recipe. Honestly! But I will give you ingredients:
Puff Pastry, thawed but cold
Mozzarella Sticks
Dipping Sauce
That’s It!!
Seriously, that’s it. There is optional prosciutto. If you want to add a little meat, thin sliced dry prosciutto works great. Don’t use pepperoni. The puff has too much fat in it already. You’ll end up with a greasy drippy mess.
Gather your ingredients
I buy my puff pastry from the technical college where I went to Culinary School because it’s made with real butter. The baking students need to practice making it and the products made with it. They also make it for the other areas of culinary as they need it to make recipes such as Beef Wellington. Check with your local culinary school(s) to see if they have some. You may have to wait, so place an order for another day and…
Go to a local Traders Joe’s if you have one near. They sell puff pastry made with real butter. My last choice would be the puff pastry they sell in the freezer section of your grocery store. I just don’t like the hydrogenated oils, the high fructose corn syrup, and other undesirable ingredients.
For the Mozzarella sticks, I just used some sticks I got for the holidays as a quick snack for my daughter while she was here. I think we only took one out of the package so I had those. If you can get fresh, go for it. I’m all about using what you have first and foremost (which is how I came up with this idea).
Measure and roll the dough
I had a big thick block of puff pastry from the culinary school. If you buy from a grocery store you won’t need to roll it as I did. You probably will be able to just cut it to size. ALWAYS trim the edges so the dough puffs better.
Place Cheese and Roll
I rolled it around the mozzarella stick about 1-1/2 times. You could go two.
Place on a Lined Baking Sheet
I line with a silicone sheet, but parchment paper will also work.
Refrigerate
I suggest putting it back in the refrigerator or freezer for a bit to get the butter cold.
Score the Dough
If you score the dough, it will puff better and the cheese will peek through. It’s a beautiful presentation.
Bake at the temperature recommended on your package. It’s usually a high temperature such as 425°F – make sure the oven is well preheated. The temperature must be high to cause the butter to steam and puff the dough. Too low and you will have pools of butter (or hydrogenated oils) all over your baking sheet. Your dough won’t puff and it is just a greasy mess. How do I know? I tried doing a side by side comparison of baking something with pastry dough and bread dough a couple years ago. It wasn’t pretty.
Bake until browned. Again, it’s going to depend on your dough. Mine took about 15 minutes.
I actually didn’t serve them that day. Once cooled, I layered them in a container and covered well. I held them in the refrigerator until the next day then just rewarmed at 350°F.
If you’re doing trays of appetizers at 350°F on the day of the Superbowl and have the fridge space, I suggest making them ahead. If you’re making pizzas or other appetizers that require 425°F, go ahead and wait to bake them. You can still make them the day before and keep them cold in the fridge.
Serve and Enjoy!
Serve with your favorite pasta or pizza sauce.
Aren’t these pretty? And they are SO good I wanted to eat the entire plate full of them. But I was good. I only had two!
Remember these tips
Cut edges allow the dough to puff
Cold dough, again for the puff
Make sure your oven is HOT
Can be made ahead – either baked or unbaked.
Have fun and enjoy your guests!!