Arancini – Recipe II

So you have a couple of cups of leftover risotto. Not enough for a meal but too much to want to throw it away! Let’s turn it into something wickedly delicious! I am unsure it matters which risotto but in this case mine was kumara (sweet potato) and onion..

Arancini (fancy word for deep fried rice balls!) here we come..

Get your leftover risotto and put it in a large bowl.

You will also need some blue cheese and some mozarella cheese (fresh is best and you want chunks of it, not grated). You could omit the blue cheese if you prefer..

Whisk 1 egg.

Pour 1/2c toasted bread crumbs into a bowl and you’re ready to go. This dish can be made gluten free simply by using g/f breadcrumbs..

Grab a small amount of the risotto and “dob” (real fancy cooking term that one) some of the mozarella and blue cheese into the centre, then ‘cover’ with more risotto before forming it into a walnut sized ball.

Tip: If the risotto is a bit sticky, wet your hands. It works a treat!

Continue doing this til you’ve used up all the risotto. If need be, chill them to firm them up..

Working quickly, dip them into the egg mixture, roll in the breadcrumbs and chill ’til you want to cook them.

I used a cast iron wok to deep-fry these, but you could use anything – even a small pot if you simply don’t want to use that much oil.

The catch here is to have the oil at a low to medium heat – you want the risotto balls to heat right through without the crumbs burning. So do not be impatient, they will take a few minutes to cook properly. And trust me, uncooked inside and burnt outside: Not nice!

Serve immediately, with a sweet relish or even just drizzled with a little good quality runny honey. These would go really well with a green salad as a simple vegetarian meal. Or as a quirky entree serve 3 per person and sit back while the compliments flow!