Arancini - Italian Fried Delicious

Arancini is the most delicious way to eat leftover risotto. Arancini is usually fried and stuffed with a variety of fillings. The most common filling is ragu: a combination of pork, tomatoes and vegetables. It can also be stuffed with mushrooms, eggplant, corn or cheese. I went for the most easy one: the cheese arancini.

The word "arancini" is derived from the Italian word for "little orange", which is an apt description of the color and shape of the fried rice balls. You could call them an appetizer, but I honestly at them as a main dish alongside an arugula salad.

A couple helpful hints:

• If you're making cheese arancini, use block pieces of mozzarella cheese. I use shredded mozzarella cheese and it was a lot more difficult to work with.
• Use fine bread crumbs. I used panko and I feel like it would have been better with fine Italian breadcrumbs.

Arancini

Ingredients

• Leftover risotto (I used mushroom, but plain risotto would work best
• Cheese
• Flour, egg and breadcrumbs for coating
• Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Pour oil into a wok or deep pot. Begin heating to 350 degrees.
2. Shape risotto in the palm of your hand into a disk. Fill with cheese or desired filling and wrap the rice around it. If necessary, pat rice on the top of enclose the filling.
3. Roll risotto ball in flour, egg, and then breadcrumbs.
4. Fry risotto balls for a couple minutes until the outside are a dark golden brown. Dry on paper towel and serve immediately with a green salad.

Arancini is the most delicious way to eat leftover risotto. Arancini is usually fried and stuffed with a variety of fillings. The most common filling is ragu: a combination of pork, tomatoes and vegetables. It can also be stuffed with mushrooms, eggplant, corn or cheese. I went for the most easy one: the cheese arancini.

The word "arancini" is derived from the Italian word for "little orange", which is an apt description of the color and shape of the fried rice balls. You could call them an appetizer, but I honestly at them as a main dish alongside an arugula salad.

A couple helpful hints:

• If you're making cheese arancini, use block pieces of mozzarella cheese. I use shredded mozzarella cheese and it was a lot more difficult to work with.
• Use fine bread crumbs. I used panko and I feel like it would have been better with fine Italian breadcrumbs.

Arancini

Ingredients

• Leftover risotto (I used mushroom, but plain risotto would work best
• Cheese
• Flour, egg and breadcrumbs for coating
• Oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Pour oil into a wok or deep pot. Begin heating to 350 degrees.
2. Shape risotto in the palm of your hand into a disk. Fill with cheese or desired filling and wrap the rice around it. If necessary, pat rice on the top of enclose the filling.
3. Roll risotto ball in flour, egg, and then breadcrumbs.
4. Fry risotto balls for a couple minutes until the outside are a dark golden brown. Dry on paper towel and serve immediately with a green salad.