Frico Cheese Pizza Sandwich

Frico is the process of frying cheese to make a patty. It originated in Italy, apparently to recycle cheese rinds, but I learned of it from the chef Mark Bittman. He had a recipe for a parmesan frico flavored with pepper. While I didn't try his specific recipe, I did try frying cheese to make a patty. I found it delicious!

I wanted to make a fast pizza sandwich, but I knew that regular sandwich bread wasn't going to cut it. That just doesn't jive with me for pizza. No one really wants to wait for bread to rise, so making a pizza crust-type bread wouldn't work either. It occurred to me that making frico cheese as the breading of the sandwich would make the most sense for a fast pizza sandwich. And so I made a Frico Pizza Sandwich!

1. Whatever type of shredded cheese you would normally use for pizza. I know that people always say mozarella for pizza, but I have found when making homemade pizza that I prefer a 5 or 6 cheese Italian.
2. Whatever toppings you prefer on pizza: Pepperonis, olives, onions, peppers, etc. I will be using olives, onion, and pepperonis.
3. A non-stick frying pan OR a well-seasoned cast iron skillet.
4. A flipper
5. A stove top

This is a pretty simple deal. Pile a generous amount of cheese (about half a cup) into the skillet. Turn the skillet on low.

Watch the cheese as it fries, paying close attention to it. You will notice that the edges are ragged. If you would like them to not be raggedy cheese bits, use the flipper to push the edges until they are smooth.

The edges will start to show a crispy brown when the cheese is ready to flip. You should be able to push the flipper under the cheese and it remain as a complete shape and not crumple on itself too much. This will tell you it is ready to flip.

When you flip it, it will look like a golden fried egg. As long as it isn't dark brown, you haven't burned it!

*If you like, you can flatten the patty with the flipper as it fries to make it more even. Not necessary, but kinda nice.

Now is the time to add some toppings. I am added the olives and onions to this half and I will add pepperonis later.

When you add on your toppings, you can sprinkle a little extra cheese to kinda "seal" them in. You don't have to, but it will make it easier to eat.

Let it fry for just a bit to crisp the bottom, about half the fry time of the first side. Scoop it out with the flipper and set it on a plate to wait.

Make the second half of the frico "bread" just like the first half. This time, when I flipped the frico, I placed the pepperonis on it.

To assemble, just place one frico on top of the other and then enjoy it! With the pizza cheese, it does actually resemble a pizza in flavor instead of more of the spaghetti taste that has been my experience with most pizza sandwiches. If you wanted to, you could add a little bit of pizza sauce, but I think it isn't necessary for the pizza taste.

I find that this sandwich is a quick protein sandwich. All of this takes less than 10 minutes. The cheese and pepperonis are good sources of protein. Given what toppings you place on it, this can be a quick lasting energy sandwich.

Enjoy your sandwiches and have a great day!