The Italian rice balls make a great snack or starter. They are filled with soft rice and cheese and you can dip in a rich tomato sauce - stunning!
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Category
Snack
Servings
4
Prep time
1 hour
Cook time
20 minutes
The Italian rice balls make a great snack or starter. They are filled with soft rice and cheese and you can dip them in a rich tomato sauce - stunning!
Ingredients
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 400g arborio rice
- 200ml white wine
- 1L chicken stock, hot
- 3 tbsp butter
- 50g grated parmesan
- 200g low moisture mozzarella, diced
- 2 eggs
- 50g flour
- 100g bread crumbs
- olive oil for frying
Directions
To make the risotto base, start by heating the oil in a large, shallow pan and adding the onions, season well with salt and cook until they go translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
Add the garlic and continue to cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Next, add the rice to the pan and stir through the onions and garlic. Cook the rice like this for 3-4 minutes before adding your glass of white wine. Reduce the white wine until it's almost gone.
Working a little bit at a time, add the hot chicken stock and continue to stir. Don't add any more until the last amount has evaporated. Continue until you use up all the chicken stock.
Now add your butter and parmesan and stir through well. Take the cooked rice and place it on a tray and in the fridge to chill.
Divide the rice into 8 even piles and form the rice into a flat patty shape. Add a small piece of mozzarella to the centre and cover it completely, so you end up with a rice ball with mozzarella in the centre.
Next crumb your balls in the standard flour, beaten egg, then bread crumbs. Place them in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.
- In a small pot, heat your olive oil to 150°C and carefully add your Arancini and cook for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. You want to cook them slowly so the rice has time to warm through and the cheese in the centre melts.
- Serve with some tomato marinara sauce and enjoy!
