Arancini
Arancini are delicious deep fried, crispy balls of rice. They can have meat sauce and mozzarella, or they can be vegetarian too. They are coated in breadcrumbs.
They are sold as snacks in bar or small street shops throughout Italy. Something interesting that happened with us while we were traveling in Italy. We found a shop in Naples while just walking around the neighborhood. The shop was very crowded so I asked my husband that we should check out what they are selling that its so crowded. They were selling fresh ‘Suppli’. Suppli is similar to arancini. We asked them if it was vegetarian, they said yes but they were not. I don’t think it was misunderstanding but they just lied to us. They were stuffed in the middle with meat sauce with some peas. Luckily, for us we only took a bite of the outside. They looked so delicious though. Lol.
Anyways, we love arancini. Arancini is made from leftover risotto into either conical shape or round shapes with usually mozzarella in the center. We order this at one of our favorite restaurants and they have tomato, mozzarella and peas in them.
In this dish, risotto is easy to make. You can make a double batch and use leftover or make fresh risotto.
My recipe of risotto in this dish is flavored with onions and garlic. I have stuffed mozzarella and pesto in the middle. If you do not want to stuff them in the center that should be fine too.
I made risotto for the first time in instant pot, it was so easy and quick. I have made risotto before and its little bit of work. This took only 10 mins with preparation time. Stove top version takes 30-40 minutes.
If you do not have instant pot, don’t worry. You can still make it. Don’t be intimated. They are quite easy once you know how to cook arborio rice.
After the risotto cools down, make rounds with cheese pesto stuffing. Roll them in the flour water mix or egg white, and then roll them in breadcrumbs. They get deep fried until golden brown. I serve them with marinara and Calabrian chili paste sauce. It can be served with either of them. Marinara taste good.
Check out the simple and easy recipe. For the risotto recipe I will share instant pot method and provide a link to my risotto recipe. Keep the ingredients and follow the steps for the other recipe.
Arancini
Ingredients
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- 3 cups vegetable or chicken broth sub with water
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 small onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup white wine sub with water
- ½ cup parmesan or pecorino cheese
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 4 oz mozzarella approximately 1/3 cup
- 2-3 tbsp pesto homemade or store-bought
- 3-4 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- In a pot on medium heat add the stock or water and let it boil for for few minutes. In an instant pot, heat up some butter on saute mode. Add garlic and chopped onions, cook it for few minutes. Add rice and saute it for few minutes until the rice looks slightly crispy. Add the wine and let it simmer for few seconds, as soon as wine evaporates add the seasonings and hot stock or water that we boiled, whatever you are using. Turn the saute mode off, and set the manual button for 5 minutes high pressure. Let it sit for 5 more minutes and then release the pressure and open the pot. Add the grated parmesan cheese and mix everything well.
- Remove risotto in a plate and let it cool down completely before moving to next step.
- Take some risotto in your palm, flatten it out to make a little well. Place the mozzarella and pesto mix in the center and close it and make a ball out of it. You can take little more rice to cover up if needed. The filling in the center should be sealed properly. It should not ooze out.
- Repeat with rest of the rice. Depending on the size you can get up to 10-15. Roll them in egg white (slightly beaten with fork) or in a mixture of flour and water like a slurry and roll them in breadcrumbs. Use one hand for the flour/water mix and other for breadcrumbs so that you are not mixing up the wet and dry coating.
- In a pot heat some oil on medium high for frying. Once the oil is hot, add rice balls and fry them; turning often so they cook on all sides until they brown.
- Remove them on a paper towel lined tray to soak up extra oil. Finish frying the rest of them.
- Serve them with a side of marinara sauce and garnish them with some parmesan cheese. They will taste better when they are hot, as the cheese in the center is melty. They can easily be reheated.
Notes
XO, Devangi