Un Fried Arancini Rice Balls Recipes

ARANCINI (RICE BALLS) WITH MARINARA SAUCE

Steps:

• Place a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat and add enough vegetable oil to rise 4 inches in the pot.
• Combine the rice, Parmesan and 1 egg in a medium bowl and use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture.
• Form each arancini by taking a small portion of the mixture, squeezing it firmly and stuffing one cube of mozzarella inside each ball. Repeat this process to form 8 arancini.
• Whisk together the remaining 2 eggs. Dip each arancini in the eggs and then in the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess.
• Once the oil reaches 375ºF, add 2 or 3 of the breaded arancini to the pot and fry them until golden brown and cooked throughout.
• Use a slotted spoon to remove the fried arancini from the pot and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate. Immediately salt the arancini. Repeat the frying process with the remaining arancini.
• Serve the arancini warm with a side of warm marinara sauce.

ARANCINI RICE BALLS

Steps:

• Using a dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot with tight fitting lid, over medium/high heat, add 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter. When hot, stir in diced onion and sautee until soft and golden (4-5 min). Add finely diced ham and cook another 2 min or until golden. Add rice and stir to coat with oil.
• Pour in 1 cup white wine and cook until mostly evaporated (2 min). Add 5 cups hot low sodium chicken broth and 1 tsp salt then cover and simmer until liquid has been absorbed by the rice (about 15-17 min). Stir in the peas in, then cover with a tight fitting lid and finish cooking (2 min). Rice should be soft and the liquid mostly absorbed. Spread rice mixture onto a large rimmed baking dish to cool.
• Once rice is at room temperature, stir in 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley and 1 cup parmesan cheese. Form rice balls with wet hands, using a heaping ice cream scoop for each. Stuff each rice ball with a cube of mozzarella cheese and form a tight ball with the rice mixture to enclose the cheese.
• Set up 3 shallow bowls, the first one to have 1 cup flour, the second with 3 beaten eggs, the third with 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs. Dredge each rice ball in flour, shaking off the excess, then dip one-by-one in the beaten egg allowing excess egg to drip back into the bowl. Finally, roll balls in breadcrumbs until evenly coated. It's best to roll and bread all of the rice balls before beginning frying since the frying is quick.
• Add an inch of vegetable oil into a deep pot over medium heat. Once oil is hot (350˚F), add the breaded rice balls in batches without crowding the pot and cook about 3 min total per batch, turning to get all sides golden brown. Transfer to paper towels, sprinkle right away with salt and serve warm with marinara.

UN-FRIED ARANCINI (RICE BALLS)

Steps:

• put rice in blender or food processor or a coffee grinder. Pulse on and off in 2 second intervals until the rice is broken into smaller pieces (about half of their original size).
• put rice into a sauce pot with 1 1/4 c water and the saffron. bring to a simmer over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium, season very lightly with salt. cover and cook until all the liquid is absorbed. about 15 mintues.
• heat oven to 375.
• scrape the rice into a steel bowl with a rubber spatula. add the basil and the parmigana-reggiano. season with salt and pepper.
• place in the freezer for about 4-5 minutes to cool.
• cut the mozzarella into 12 equal bit size nuggets. remove the rice mixture from the freezer. form into 12 equal size loose balls. place a piece of cheese in center of each ball and then form in a tight ball, sealing in the cheese completely.
• repeat until all balls are completely formed, place in freezer for 2-3 minutes to tighten up.
• place flour, egg whites and panko in 3 different shallow bowls. lightly season with panko and flour with salt and pepper.
• remove balls from freezer coat them in small batches, first coat the ball with flour (knock off excess) then into the egg whites and finally the panko. place finished ball on a baking sheet with a wire rack.
• once all balls are coated , place in the oven and cook until he panko is toasted and crisp. if the cheese starts to pop out of the shell, its time to remove from the oven.
• heat your tomato sauce and serve with the baked rice balls.