Pizza Macaroni Bites

Pizza Macaroni Bites - because sometimes macaroni and cheese needs to be filled with pizza toppings, breaded, and fried.

Step 1: Ingredients

- Boxed macaroni of your choice (I think the kind with elbow noodles and liquid cheese sauce works best.)

- Mozzarella Cheese (1 cup per box of macaroni)

- Pizza toppings - I used mushrooms, black olives, bell pepper, and spinach (last minute decision - not pictured), but you can use almost anything. Don't use more than about 1 cup of total toppings per box of macaroni. Also, make sure to cook anything that needs it, and eliminate any excess moisture.

- Dipping sauce - (pizza or marinara sauce will make this taste most like pizza. But others work well too - alfredo, pesto, ranch, etc. )

- Eggs (2 per box of macaroni)

- Milk (1 tbsp per egg)

- 2+ cups Bread Crumbs

- 1 tbsp Pizza Seasoning (this is optional. An easy substitution is 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil, 1 tsp garlic powder - You can also just buy Italian bread crumbs.)

- oil for frying

Step 2: Making Macaroni

Before starting, line a baking dish with wax or parchment paper. You want your macaroni to be 1 - 2 inches thick in the pan, so a general size might be an 8x8 inch pan for 1 box - or a 9x13 inch pan for 2 boxes

Make your macaroni according to the directions on the box. While still hot, add all your toppings and cheese, and stir well.

Pour the mixture into your prepared pan, and spread evenly.

Add an additional sheet of wax paper on top, and gently press the mixture down. Chill for at least 2 hours - overnight is best.

Step 3: Prepping to Fry

Mix your eggs and milk together in one shallow dish - and, in a separate dish, mix together your bread crumbs and pizza seasoning.

Once you macaroni is completely cold, you can carefully run a knife around the edge, and flip it out of the pan. It should hold together pretty easily.

Cut the block into smaller pieces - I try to stay between 1" x 2" and 2" x 3" - If you cut your pieces much larger, the insides will not get hot and they may fall apart in the frying process.

Once your pieces are cut, take them (one at a time) and cover them into the egg mixture, then roll in the bread crumbs to completely coat. Set aside until you've finished all your pieces.

These need to go back in the fridge for another 30 minutes or so, just until they're cold again.

Step 4: Fry and Done!

Heat your oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Your oil needs to be deep enough to come up half way on your macaroni bites.

Fry the squares until golden brown (about a minute per side) - Make sure your oil is hot and try not to crowd the pan

Set on a rack or paper towels to drain off any excess oil.

Add dipping sauce and done!

* I hate frying things, but these do turn out better if fried. I tried to bake them, and they dried out quite a bit before turning brown

* These reheat really well (of, if you're weird like me, they're really good cold too!)

- If your macaroni bites aren't staying together, it's either because they're not cold enough or because there is too much moisture from something added. You can stir in some extra bread crumbs to help absorb some of the liquid and make it stick together better!

- If your bites are falling apart in your pan - or if they're coming out really soaked with oil - your oil is probably not hot enough. Make sure you're letting it get up to temperature between batches, and don't add too many cold macaroni pieces at once.