Arancini

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I love arancini.

I love how the crisp exterior shatters into the creamy ball of unctuous rice, and the little cheesey hit in the middle. They are the perfect cocktail snack, especially because you can make them ahead and freeze them in ziplock bags and then throw the frozen balls into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes for a quick addition to any spread!

In advance of the launch of my seventh book, Death in Aramezzo, I made about eighty of these fellows yesterday and they are now waiting in the freezer for me to add to the other food options I’ll serve at my launch party—focaccia, vegetables in pinzimonio, pizzelle cookies, and a play on porchetta. Along with the requisite spritz party ride-alongs of potato chips and peanuts.

arancini recipe italian umbrian food

I used to make arancini with leftover risotto, but I couldn’t always get the timing right and anyway my family can eat their weight in risotto, so it was hard to count on leftovers. Nowadays, I just make a big pot of admittedly non-traditional risotto, which works great for arancini. My recipe is based on this one from Natasha’s Kitchen, with some modifications because i’m a little stuck in my ways and feel someone would revoke my Italophile license if I used jasmine rice instead of arborio.

You can make these arancini as is, or leave out the peas and ham, and instead fill with a bit of leftover sugo and that chunk of mozzarella.

Buon appetito!

Arancini

Ingredients:

  • 2 T olive oil

  • 2 T butter

  • 1 finely diced medium onion

  • 1 cup of finely chopped ham steak (you can substitute sliced ham, but you do gain something from chunks rather than strips)

  • 1 cup arborio rice

  • 1 cup pinot grigio or similar light, dry wine

  • 5 cups chicken or vegetable broth (homemade is nice, but not necessary), hot

  • 1 cup frozen peas

  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley

  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan

  • 4 ounces of mozzarella cheese (about a cup) cut into 1/2 inch cubes (I find fresh mozzarella doesn’t work as well here… it melts into a liquid and is absorbed by the rice, rather than leaving a melty cheese center)

  • 1 cup all purpose flour

  • 3 large eggs, beaten with a fork

  • 1 1/2 cups panko or bread crumbs

  • Oil for frying, I use canola, but any light oil with a high smoke point will do

Process

  1. Melt butter into oil in a pot with a tight fitting lid over medium high heat. When hot, stir in onion for about five minutes, until soft. Add the ham and saute for another two minutes. Add rice and stir to coat each grain with fat.

  2. Add white wine to the rice and and cook for a couple of minutes, until mostly evaporated. Now add the hot broth. Bring to a simmer and then cover, cooking for about 15 minutes until rice absorbs all the liquid (if the rice is too wet, it will be hard to hold its shape, so do make sure you don’t see any floating liquid). Stir in the peas and the Parmesan and parsley, and cover again for a few minutes. Transfer rice to a cookie sheet to allow it to cool to room temperature.

  3. Once rice is at room temperature, form rice balls (easier with wet hands), aiming for a size between golfball and baseball. Stuff each rice ball with a cube of cheese, pressing back and forth between your hands to enclose the cheese in the middle of a round sphere. It takes a little practice, but think of it a zen thing, getting a nice round ball.

  4. Set a bowl for each of the flour, eggs, and panko or bread crumbs. Drop each rice ball in first the flour (then shake off the excess), then the egg (let excess drip back into bowl), then roll into the panko, making sure you have crumbs on the whole surface. You can make all the rice balls up front, or form a batch as another batch cooks, but you have to feel good about your speediness to do them simultaneously.

  5. Pour a couple of inches of oil to a wok or pot and heat over medium heat. When you put the end of a wooden utensil in the oil and it bubbles up, the oil is ready. Add the rice balls to the oil, without crowding. Turn them occasionally until they are a golden brown on all sides. You don’t want them browning too quickly, as they won’t cook through properly, about three minutes total for each batch is a good goal. Transfer to a paper towel lined tray and sprinkle with salt.


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