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1. For the sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the 1/2 cup olive oil.
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2. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring, until the garlic is soft but not browned, about 1 minute.
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3. Add the tomatoes and their juices and simmer until the sauce is thickened, about 6 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
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4. Preheat an oven to 200u00b0F.
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5. For the fried mozzarella: Drain the cheese from its liquid. Place the cheese on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and pat dry.
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6. If your cheese balls seem pretty big, halve or quarter them into bite-size pieces. Once they get the panko breading on them, they will be a lot bigger.
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7.In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk.
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8. Put the egg mixture and bread crumbs in separate wide, shallow bowls. Combine the panko with the teaspoon of salt and Parmesan in another wide, shallow bowl. (*If you only have one shallow bowl, use it for the panko. It will help you immensely with the breading process.)
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9. Roll the cheese in the flour, dip into the egg mixture and coat with the bread crumbs, shaking off the excess after each step.
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10. Repeat the breading process one more time for each cheese piece.
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11. In a large, deep saute pan over medium-high heat, pour the oil to a depth of 3 inches and heat to 350u00b0F on a deep-frying thermometer.
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12. Working in batches, fry the cheese until golden, about 45 seconds (or until golden brown-watch them carefully as oven temperatures may vary). If you notice that your thermometer's reading decreases, wait for a little while until the oil gets back up to the proper temperature.
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13. Transfer the fried cheese to a paper towel-lined plate
