Easily Impressive, Marinated Mozzarella Balls

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Transform the flavor of plain cheese using a few simple pantry staples in this olive oil marinated mozzarella balls recipe. You’re only a few simple steps away from creating a simple appetizer or food gift people will want to receive.

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A cheesy app idea that will keep you at the buffet table a little longer. It’s easy enough to quickly make on your way out the door or as soon as you get home to have a second batch to enjoy all for yourself.

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Why you should make this mozzarella balls marinated in oil recipe?

Boosts Flavor – on it’s own, fresh mozzarella cheese doesn’t have much flavor. Add some yourself by soaking it in a mixture of olive oil, seasonings and dried herbs.

Low Effort & Impressive Results – There’s no cooking involved here. Simply mix the ingredient together & you’re done.

Long Lasting – Packages of fresh mozzarella cheese balls recommend using them within 1-3 days after opening. By storing mozzarella in olive oil you’ll extend it’s short shelf life to a little over a week (refrigerated) or longer (frozen).

Two Recipes in One – If you double the amount of olive oil (like shown in these pictures) you’ll also get a seasoned oil mixture out of this recipe. This makes a flavorful dip on its own, mixed into dressings or in another recipe that calls for olive oil.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this recipe. Aside from the mozzarella cheese, the remaining ingredients are all shelf stable and useful pantry items.

• olive oil – choose a bottle you enjoy the taste of
• shichimi togarashi – a Japanese spice blend made from chili flakes, seaweed and sesame seeds. It’s available at Costco, online from OCEANS HALO or you can make it yourself. Another option is to simply substitute with crushed red pepper flakes
• more spices – including granulated garlic, dried parsley flakes, paprika, kosher salt & pepper
• balsamic vinegar
• store-bought or homemade version of hot honey sauce
• fresh mozzarella cheese – used the small pearls here but larger ones could be used as well. You could also cut a large piece of mozzarella into cubes to marinate. If the cheese is packed in water, make sure to drain it before use. (These are delicious in sweet recipes too, like this fruit salad with cheese.)

How to marinate mozzarella balls

Start by seasoning the olive oil marinade.

This can be done straight in the jar/container you plan to store it. Just make sure you have enough room to mix it in. Otherwise, use a separate bowl & transfer it to a container afterwards.

Pour in the oil. I like using a kitchen scale to easily measure it without getting another dish dirty. Then stir in the spices, vinegar and honey.

Use your hands to separate the mozzarella pearls into individual pieces. If they came packed in water, drain beforehand.

Add the cheese straight into the oil mixture. Gently stir until all the pearls are well coated.

Enjoy them right away or refrigerate to marinate mozzarella for longer & enhance the flavors.

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Ways to use this marinated mozzarella balls recipe

• plain – snack on them as is or skewer a couple of them together to serve as an appetizer
• with bread – layer onto crostini or stuff into a sandwich (careful they can be messy if they fall out)
• as a pizza topping – set up a DIY pizza party along with a batch of dough (this pizza crust has potato mixed into it), keep it gluten free with a quinoa pizza or skip the kneading altogether and use this vegetable flatbread pizza recipe
• in a salad – toss with vegetables or pasta, like this Lemon Pepper Pasta or Harissa Couscous
• include them on a cheese board
• melted into a chip – follow the instructions on making these microwave cheese crisps
• now that it’s seasoned, you can reuse the oil in other recipes

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Marinated mozzarella balls recipe