Rice Balls (Arancini)
Arancini ("little oranges") are fried rice balls made with leftover risotto and may be filled with small cubes of cheese, meat ragu and cheese or even left plain.
I specifically made a pea and prosciutto risotto the day before for my first attempt at rice balls. I used some diced beef shin/shank ragu, from a previous post, and a small cube of provolone cheese to fill half while only including a larger cube of the cheese inside the rest. I am including a link to the original recipe for the very simple meat sauce, that Laura Vitale includes on her web page, in case you don't have any ragu in your freezer. :) My rewritten instructions are included in this post.
Although the risotto was good on its own, the rice balls were amazingly good. Perfectly seasoned and not even needing to be served with a marinara sauce or a dip. The size was also very good as the ones I've bought in the past have been the size of my fist and the crispy outer layer to creamy inside ratio wasn't particularly good. If you don't want to bother with a filling, a 1 1/2 inch size is great as a two bite appetizer.
Rice Balls (Arancini) - makes ~ten 2 1/2-3 inch rice balls
For a Fast Ground Meat Filling:
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 oz of ground beef
3/4 cups chopped canned tomatoes
1/4 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste
2 oz provolone or mozzarella cheese, cut into small pieces
For the assembly:
3-4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups bread crumbs
vegetable oil, for deep frying
1 batch of pea and prosciutto risotto, refrigerated overnight
2 egg yolks (**only use 1 next time)
Making the meat filling:
Preheat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add the beef, saute until the meat is no longer pink and starting to brown a bit. Drain off any excess fat.
Add the onions and garlic and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until the onions have softened.
Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 25 minutes, add the peas and cook for 5 more minutes. (If there are peas/diced asparagus in the risotto, omit the peas.)
Allow the filling to cool completely before using to fill rice balls.
Assembling the rice balls:
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the cold risotto with the egg yolks. After the first yolk decide if you need to add a second. The rice should be not be too dry but it shouldn't be too wet to form a ball either.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out a portion of the risotto into your hand, make an hole in the center and fill it with ~1 tbsp of the filling and one small piece of the cheese. Mold the rice balls around the filling (if the rice is too sticky, wet your hands with a little water).
Place the rice balls on the lined baking sheet. Place the sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes.
NOTE: I FORGOT TO DO THIS and a couple of the balls fell apart later when I went to roll them in the flour. The first 5 balls filled with cheese were ok, but the first of the ones with the ragu and cheese seemed to have absorbed the liquid from the ragu ... so that may have something to do with it. I tried to squeeze the first one of these crumbly ragu balls together but my hands were dry and the rice stuck to them causing the rice ball to fall even further apart. I should have just rolled the rest in the bread crumbs and not bothered with the flour and beaten eggs but I had already set the out the bowls of ingredients and didn't want them to go to waste.
Beat the eggs lightly in a shallow bowl, also place the flour in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs in a third.
Take the rice balls out of the fridge and, one at a time, gently roll them into the flour, then the egg and finally the bread crumbs, making sure the rice balls are coated well with each layer.
Place the coated rice balls on the same baking sheet and place the rice balls in the fridge for about an hour to make sure they are nice and firm. The outside will also dry a bit preventing too much spitting of the oil when the rice ball is placed in the oil.
Fill a large pot or a deep fryer with about 3 inches of oil and heat over medium heat to 375 deg F.
Fry the rice balls in the hot oil for about 5 to 6 minutes. Use a slotted metal spoon to lower each rice ball into the hot oil to prevent it from splashing back and burning you. Transfer the fried rice balls to a paper towel lined platter to drain the excess oil.
Serve immediately!
If you have any rice balls left over, refrigerate and reheat in a preheated 350 deg F oven on a rack for 15-20 min.
Assembling a cheese filled rice ball - I should have known that the filling was too moist after I added the first egg yolk.
Assembling a meat ragu and cheese filled rice ball
Inside the fried cheese rice ball - I took a picture of the inside of the fried meat and cheese one as well but ate it before checking to see that the picture wasn't in focus. Oops ... I was still cooking and in a rush to make sure my rice balls didn't burn.
Rice balls are called arancini in Sicily. In Rome, they call them suppli or "surprise" and expand the term to "suppli al telefono" because if the cheese inside the rice balls is just the right temperature when you break them open, they form a string of cheese that resembles telephone wires. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold the two pieces of the rice ball and take a picture at the same time.
I specifically made a pea and prosciutto risotto the day before for my first attempt at rice balls. I used some diced beef shin/shank ragu, from a previous post, and a small cube of provolone cheese to fill half while only including a larger cube of the cheese inside the rest. I am including a link to the original recipe for the very simple meat sauce, that Laura Vitale includes on her web page, in case you don't have any ragu in your freezer. :) My rewritten instructions are included in this post.
Although the risotto was good on its own, the rice balls were amazingly good. Perfectly seasoned and not even needing to be served with a marinara sauce or a dip. The size was also very good as the ones I've bought in the past have been the size of my fist and the crispy outer layer to creamy inside ratio wasn't particularly good. If you don't want to bother with a filling, a 1 1/2 inch size is great as a two bite appetizer.
Rice Balls (Arancini) - makes ~ten 2 1/2-3 inch rice balls
For a Fast Ground Meat Filling:
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
4 oz of ground beef
3/4 cups chopped canned tomatoes
1/4 cup frozen peas
salt and pepper, to taste
2 oz provolone or mozzarella cheese, cut into small pieces
For the assembly:
3-4 eggs
1 1/2 cups of flour
2 cups bread crumbs
vegetable oil, for deep frying
1 batch of pea and prosciutto risotto, refrigerated overnight
2 egg yolks (**only use 1 next time)
Making the meat filling:
Preheat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add the beef, saute until the meat is no longer pink and starting to brown a bit. Drain off any excess fat.
Add the onions and garlic and cook for another 5 to 6 minutes or until the onions have softened.
Add the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 25 minutes, add the peas and cook for 5 more minutes. (If there are peas/diced asparagus in the risotto, omit the peas.)
Allow the filling to cool completely before using to fill rice balls.
Assembling the rice balls:
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the cold risotto with the egg yolks. After the first yolk decide if you need to add a second. The rice should be not be too dry but it shouldn't be too wet to form a ball either.
Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out a portion of the risotto into your hand, make an hole in the center and fill it with ~1 tbsp of the filling and one small piece of the cheese. Mold the rice balls around the filling (if the rice is too sticky, wet your hands with a little water).
Place the rice balls on the lined baking sheet. Place the sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes.
NOTE: I FORGOT TO DO THIS and a couple of the balls fell apart later when I went to roll them in the flour. The first 5 balls filled with cheese were ok, but the first of the ones with the ragu and cheese seemed to have absorbed the liquid from the ragu ... so that may have something to do with it. I tried to squeeze the first one of these crumbly ragu balls together but my hands were dry and the rice stuck to them causing the rice ball to fall even further apart. I should have just rolled the rest in the bread crumbs and not bothered with the flour and beaten eggs but I had already set the out the bowls of ingredients and didn't want them to go to waste.
Beat the eggs lightly in a shallow bowl, also place the flour in a shallow bowl and the bread crumbs in a third.
Take the rice balls out of the fridge and, one at a time, gently roll them into the flour, then the egg and finally the bread crumbs, making sure the rice balls are coated well with each layer.
Place the coated rice balls on the same baking sheet and place the rice balls in the fridge for about an hour to make sure they are nice and firm. The outside will also dry a bit preventing too much spitting of the oil when the rice ball is placed in the oil.
Fill a large pot or a deep fryer with about 3 inches of oil and heat over medium heat to 375 deg F.
Fry the rice balls in the hot oil for about 5 to 6 minutes. Use a slotted metal spoon to lower each rice ball into the hot oil to prevent it from splashing back and burning you. Transfer the fried rice balls to a paper towel lined platter to drain the excess oil.
Serve immediately!
If you have any rice balls left over, refrigerate and reheat in a preheated 350 deg F oven on a rack for 15-20 min.
Assembling a cheese filled rice ball - I should have known that the filling was too moist after I added the first egg yolk.
Assembling a meat ragu and cheese filled rice ball
Inside the fried cheese rice ball - I took a picture of the inside of the fried meat and cheese one as well but ate it before checking to see that the picture wasn't in focus. Oops ... I was still cooking and in a rush to make sure my rice balls didn't burn.
Rice balls are called arancini in Sicily. In Rome, they call them suppli or "surprise" and expand the term to "suppli al telefono" because if the cheese inside the rice balls is just the right temperature when you break them open, they form a string of cheese that resembles telephone wires. Unfortunately, I couldn't hold the two pieces of the rice ball and take a picture at the same time.