Rukmiini Iyer’s recipe for mozzarella in carozza – and the leftover crusts | Cook once, eat twice

For an exceptionally luxe snack or kids’ tea, mozzarella in carrozza is your girl. It’s the love child of a cheese toastie and eggy bread – instead of toasting it, you dip the cheese sandwich in egg and fry it. In other words, it’s mozzarella in a fancy carriage. I like to use a combination of mozzarella and mature cheddar for flavour, and while it’s best eaten piping hot from the pan, it’s a good (and filling) lunchbox option for children, too.

Mozzarella in carrozza

You will need a very large shallow bowl (or medium roasting tin) for the egg dip.

Pat down the cheddar evenly on one slice of bread, leaving a 1cm border, then top with the mozzarella. Brush a little beaten egg around the edges of the bread, then top with the second slice of sourdough and gently squash the edges together to seal.

Pour the remaining egg into a large, shallow container, then carefully dip both sides of the sandwich in the egg wash – the bread should absorb all of the egg. (Any excess can be poured on once the sandwich is in the pan.)

Put the oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat, then carefully lift the sandwich into the pan and fry for two minutes on each side, until golden brown. Use your biggest fish slice (or two) to transfer the mozzarella in carrozza on to a plate lined with kitchen paper, then serve immediately, scattered with a little sea salt.

For a more balanced meal, serve with a green salad (dressing: one tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, the juice of half a lemon, one scant teaspoon dijon mustard and salt, to taste) or a cherry tomato salad (one big handful of cherry tomatoes, halved and dressed with extra-virgin olive oil, salt and fresh basil). Alternatively, if feeding children, serve with cucumber sticks and some fruit.

Eat twice

It was thinking about (and constantly making) children’s lunches that put me on the next-day dish ideas for this week’s column: what do you do with three days’ worth of cut-off sandwich crusts? I can’t bear to waste them, so they get stashed in a plastic container in the fridge. You could take them down the bread-and-butter pudding route: chop or blitz the crusts in a food processor, pack into a small baking dish, then pour over a chocolate custard (three egg yolks, 350ml whole milk or single cream, or a mix of both, 50g sugar, 100g 70% dark chocolate, melted) and bake for 20 minutes or so. Lovely by itself, or for breakfast with Greek yoghurt and just-ripe or baked pears.

My favourite savoury option, though, is this: whisk a couple of eggs and a good splash of milk with a handful of grated cheese, then stir this through the chopped or blitzed sandwich crusts. Bake in a shallow dish at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 for 10-12 minutes, until just set. Once cool (you can refrigerate it overnight, if you wish), cut into squares, then fry in a little olive oil until golden brown and crisp. I billed these as “bread rosti” to the family, and topped them with cream cheese for the children and sriracha for my husband. They were a hit – not bad for half a week’s worth of sandwich leftovers.