Arancini are delicious deep fried, crispy balls of rice. They can be stuffed with meat sauce and mozzarella, or they can be vegetarian too. They are coated in breadcrumbs.
Anyways, we love arancini. Arancini is made from leftover risotto into either conical shape or round shape with usually mozzarella stuffed 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.
I had this idea sitting I my notes or a little notepad, like forever. I am not sure why I took so long to work on it and test it out. Finally, now that I did it. I think you will also love it.
We love regular tomato cheese arancini or the one I make from corn risotto too. It’s such a clever use of leftover risotto. Last year I made some arancini for a gathering at my place, everyone loved it so much and we hardly had any leftovers. I love making it, even though it sounds like a laborious.
I always make the risotto a day or two in advance. Let it sit in the fridge and then roll out and bread crumb it. It tastes best when it is fried on the spot, but you can totally fry it and then reheat in an oven or air fryer just before serving. It would be so good, with all that melting cheese in the middle.
Honestly, when I made a huge batch lie about 40 of them, I made them smaller in size and did not stuff cheese in the middle. Instead just mixed it in and that I saved some time, and was able to make bite sized for a big group.
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 it’s so crowded.
They were selling fresh ‘Suppli’. Suppli is like 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.
My recipe of risotto in this dish is flavored with onions and garlic. I have stuffed mozzarella in the middle. If you do not want to stuff them in the center that should be fine too. Initially I was thinking of stuffing the middle with paneer. But paneer won’t be stretchy so decided to just add paneer in the risotto and stuff them with mozz.
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. You can also make risotto in an oven for 30 minutes, at 350 F without the need for stirring. It saves so much time and work. I also like the idea of making risotto and letting it cool down.
Once you make risotto, you can cool it down and store it in a container and make arancini anytime. That way, it saves time, and you can make it ahead of time.
Another tip – you can roll the arancini in balls, and breadcrumbs too, and keep it in the fridge. Whenever, you are ready to serve just fry them. That way, you do not feel like you are spending too much time in the kitchen at the same time.
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. With these arancini I served some makhani sauce and it taste great.
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.
Spinach Paneer 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
- 1 cup spinach puree blanched and pureed
- 1 cup paneer grated
- ½ cup parmesan or pecorino cheese
- 1 tsp garam masala
- ½ tsp red chili flakes or Calabrian chili paste
- ½ tsp Italian seasonings
- salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- ½ cup mozzarella
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- In a pot on medium heat add the stock or water and let it boil 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 garam masala, Italian seasonings, salt, black pepper, chili flakes, and hot stock or water that we boiled, whatever you are using. Add spinach puree and grated paneer too.
- 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/tray and let it cool down completely before moving to next step.
- Divide risotto using a scoop, into equal portions. Take 1 portion of risotto in your palm, flatten it out to make a little well. Place the mozzarella 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.
- Easiest way to make a ball, is to fold the rice ball into half once you stuff the cheese, and then try to roll it into a ball shape.
- 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 later with clean hands 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 are 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 makhani sauce or 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 in an oven at 200 F for 10 minutes or in an air fryer.
Notes
- Risotto can be cooked a day or few hours prior to making these, as they will be easier to handle, and they stick better.
- For stove top risotto method, check the link.
- If you do not want to stuff cheese in the middle, just mix it in the risotto, and make sure to coat it properly before frying or else it will start melting and spoil the oil during frying.
