Arancini
Recipe Description:
These arancini are the real deal. My husband is Italian, and his family has been making arancini for as long as he can remember. They are a staple. I developed this recipe inspired by his love for these delicious rice balls. They are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside with just enough sauce, cheese and peas.
What makes this recipe so great is that it is totally customizable. If you are not a meat eater, you do not need to make this recipe with meat sauce, nor do you need to use chicken stock to make the risotto. You can use a plain marinara sauce for the filling and you can use vegetable stock for the risotto.
Although this recipe may seem intimidating but I promise you that once you start and make them once you will quickly see that although there are steps to be done, many parts of this recipe can be done in advance so that all you have to do is assemble and enjoy! One of the things I like to do is have my meat sauce and risotto already done. I usually prepare these either earlier in the day in which I am going to make them, or the night before.
If you make these arancini, take a photo and tag me on instagram! I love to see what you are all making!
Enjoy!
Preparation time 60 minutes
Cooking time total 60 minutes
Ingredients for the risotto
6.5 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth if vegetarian)
1.5 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil
1 pinch of salt
2 eggs slightly beaten
Flour for breading the arancini
Plain bread crumbs for breading
Ingredients for the meat sauce
1/2 pound lean ground beef (or omit if creating a vegetarian sauce)
1 can or jar of strained tomatoes
1 cooking onion
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup frozen peas
Instructions
Make the risotto
Heat a skillet
Add the olive oil to the heated skillet
Add the arborio rice to the skillet and cook for approximately 2 minutes. You will notice that the rice will become somewhat see through.
Once your rice has been coated and has become see through, add the white wine.
Stir continuously, until the rice has absorbed the white wine.
Once absorbed, begin adding your chicken broth, one -two ladles at a time.
Allow the rice to soak up the chicken broth before adding more to your skillet. Continue adding chicken broth until your rice is cooked and creamy
Once you have finished adding the chicken broth, add the grated parmesan and stir.
Add salt to taste.
Remove your rice from the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Allow the rice to cool slightly so that you can refrigerate it while you make the meat sauce
I prefer that my rice is a little bit under. This is because when the arancini are fried, the rice will cook somewhat in the frying process and you do not want mushy rice. ” To save on cooking time, you can make your rice the day before. You can leave the rice in the fridge overnight. Ensure that the bowl is covered tightly with Saran Wrap or foil.
Make the meat sauce
I should say at the outset that you do not need to make a meat sauce. You can use store bought or something that you already have i.e. frozen sauce from another time. However, if you want a quick and easy meat sauce, here it goes.
Heat skillet with olive oil.
Add smashed garlic, sauce until aromatic.
Add ground beef, salt and pepper and cook until no pink remains. Approximately 8 minutes.
Once meat is cooked, add the strained tomatoes
Fill the strained tomato jar with water to about halfway.
Add the water to the pan.
Stir and add salt, pepper and oregano.
Bring to a boil.
Let boil for a few minutes, and reduce to a simmer for approximately half hour. The sauce will reduce by about 1/3.
Taste your sauce, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Once sauce is done, add in the frozen peas. The peas are added in at the very end because you do not want them to become mushy.
Transfer some of the sauce to a bowl and reserve the rest.
I like to use strained tomatoes because you want this sauce to be thick so that it holds up in the arancini and does not leak.
Assemble the arancini
Start by placing rice in the palm of your hand. Depending on the size of the arancini that you want, you can adjust how much rice you are putting in the palm of your hand. You will be creating a well, pat down the middle so that you have space to add the meat sauce.
Add the meat sauce to the small well you have created in your palm.
Add a cube of mozzarella to the centre of the meat sauce.
Once you have put in the mozzarella, continue by adding more rice on top to create a ball.
Form the ball gently in your hand, adding additional rice where required to close any gaps.
Now you are ready to bread your ball.
First roll the ball in the flour, then gently roll it in the beaten eggs and then into the bread crumbs and set aside.
Continue step 7 until you have finished with all of your rice.
Once all of your arancini are breaded, continue by frying them.
Heat vegetable oil in a pot suitable for frying (something with higher sides so that you do not have too much splatter). Once oil is hot, place the arancini in the pot. Half of the arancini should be submerged in the oil. Once the first side has browned (this will happen quickly so be sure to watch them) flip the arancini so that the other side is similarly brown
Serve warm and enjoy!
be sure not to crowd the arancini in the pot because the oil will cool too quickly and your arancini will not be crispy.
