Arancini (Italian Rice Balls)
photo by Jonathan Melendez
- Ready In:
- 24mins
- Ingredients:
- 13
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 2 1⁄2 cups cooked rice (preferably short grain or aborio rice)
- 1⁄3 cup butter, melted
- 2⁄3 cup grated parmesan cheese or 2/3 cup romano cheese
- 1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic (or 1/2 - 1 teaspoon garlic powder) (optional)
- 1⁄4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 -2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 1 -2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 ounces mozzarella cheese (cut into small cubes)
- oil, for deep-frying
-
COATING
- 2 eggs, beaten
- flour, for coating
- 1 cup fine dry breadcrumb
directions
- In a bowl lightly beat 2 eggs.
- Stir in cooked rice, melted butter, Parmesan cheese, garlic (if using) parsley, seasoned salt and pepper.
- Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Roll into 1-1/2-inch balls.
- Press a cheese cube into each ball then reshape rice balls.
- Place the flour into a small bowl.
- Whisk 2 eggs in a small bowl.
- Place the dry breadcrumbs in a small bowl.
- Dip each ball into flour, then into the egg and then lastly into the breadcrumbs.
- Heat oil to 375 degrees, then fry rice balls until golden brown (about 4 minutes).
- Drain on paper towels.
Questions & Replies
Reviews
-
In Italy you can find these with prosciutto (very thin, dried ham), sausage, or even a variety of different veggies. I'd imagine just about anything you can put on a pizza or in a calzone, you can add to the inside of a arancini. I've had them as large as baseballs, they've had so much stuff in them (that was in Sicily). The ones I make are usually larger than golf balls but smaller than baseballs. I've never used or needed a sauce but have had them with a little sauce added to the inside. They are one of my favorite Italian foods!
-
This recipe was outstanding, just love it. However I took advice from the previous reviewers and there are a few things to succesfully do this right. When the mixture was done I covered in plastic wrap and froze for 30 min, then did the balls and froze for 30 more minutes, they came out the fridge very firm and had absolutely no trouble when friying. As the balls were a little bit still sticky, because of the egg, decided not to coat with egg, then mixed the breadcrumbs and the flour, this to handle the arancinis less time possible before frying. I homemade a marinara sauce found also here at recipezaar to come with, added some fresh salad with black olives and a wine bottle. The fact of writing this review makes my mouth waters, can't wait to do this recipe again thanks a lot for sharing
-
Delicious....one of my guests thought they were a little bland and needed pepping up a bit. Maybe a dipping sauce like your first reviewer suggested?<br/>Edited...I've made these a few times now and they always come out well. I recently didn't have the ingredients to make a tomato based dipping sauce, so I used a jar of Roasted Pepper Pesto which went with them very well. I also swapped the Parsley in the recipe for Basil.
see 6 more reviews