Baked Mozzarella Cheese Bites with Easy Marinara Sauce

From our friends at the American Heart Association

Image courtesy of the American Heart Association

Servings: 6
Serving Size: 4 bites

Image courtesy of the American Heart Association

Be prepared to be amazed with the crunch factor from these American, Simple Cooking with Heart melty oven-baked bits; you won't miss the deep-fried version a bit.

Ingredients

For the Baked Mozzarella Bites:

2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat panko breadcrumbs

2 large egg whites

2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 (1-ounce) sticks fat-free mozzarella string cheese (each one cut into 4 pieces)

For the Easy Marinara Sauce:

1 1/2 cups course-grain, no-salt-added, no-sodium, strained tomatoes

1 1/2 cups low-sodium, jarred, crushed tomatoes

2 1/2 teaspoons salt-free Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions

For the Baked Mozzarella Bites:

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Prepare a baking sheet by lining with foil and coating with cooking spray.
Add the cornstarch and panko breadcrumbs seperately into their own large zip-top bags. OIn a shallow dish, whisk together egg whites, water, and pepper. Remove each string cheese from its plastic, and cut each one into 4 pieces.
To bread the cheese, add a handful of cheese pieces into the zip-top with cornstarch; shake to coat or let your child do the shaking action. Next, transfer the cheese pieces to the egg mixture, coating each one entirely with egg. Last, transfer the cheese to the zip-top bag with breadcrumbs, shaking until each cheese piece is fully coated with breadcrumbs. Place on a prepared baking sheet. Repeat breading process until each cheese piece is coated.
Cook in the oven just until the cheese begins to melt and ooze out of 1 or 2 bites, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Serve mozzarella bites with marinara sauce to dip.

For the Easy Marinara Sauce:

Add all the ingredients into a medium heavy-duty pot and stir together to combine.
Warm over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until marinara is warm, around 5 minutes. Cover and keep on low to keep warm until serving.

Quick Tips

Cooking Tip: To keep a baked coating on a slippery food like the string cheese, a dip first in cornstarch holds it all together. Try it out when coating other foods, like chicken breasts.

Keep it Healthy: Remember this easy-to-make marinara sauce for your next pasta dinner, which is just a combination of strained/crushed tomatoes and spices. Warm on the stovetop or just heat in the microwave. It has more flavor and less sodium, sugar, or preservatives than a jarred marinara.

Tip: Can't find fa-free mozzarella sticks? Use part-skim or 2 percent mozzarella string cheese.

Nutrition Facts

Per serving (serves 6; serving size 4 bites)

Calories	104
Total Fat	2.5 g (1.5 g saturated, 0.0 g trans fat, 0.0 g polyunsaturated, 0.0 g monounsaturated fats)
Cholesterol	10 mg
Sodium	240 mg
Carbohydrate	14 g (3 g sugars, 1 g dietary fiber)
Protein	11 g
Dietary Exchanges:	1 lean meat, 1 starch