Italian arancini are delightful fried balls of risotto rice. They are excitingly stuffed with a generous blend of freshly grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese. This recipe for Italian arancini is one of Baby G’s all-time favorites. Her excitement is palpable whenever she hears that we are making them. She loves to pack a few in her lunchbox for school the following day, so she can share these tasty treats with her friends! Typically, we serve 2-3 arancini per person for dinner, which leaves just enough for her to enjoy as a delicious snack the next day.
While we often serve Italian arancini as a side dish alongside grilled chicken or steak. Albeit they truly shine as the star of the meal. Each crispy ball is accompanied by a small dish of homemade marinara sauce, perfect for dipping. Additionally, arancini make for an excellent appetizer or a finger food option for potluck gatherings.
Preparation, Servings and Storage of Italian Arancini
The heart of these Italian arancini lies in the creamy, cheesy rice made from risotto. The risotto (arborio rice) is cooked ahead of time and thoroughly chilled. This process is crucial, as it allows the rice to firm up, making it much easier to shape into perfectly round rice balls. We choose arborio rice for this recipe due to its unique creamy texture. Its creaminess is far superior to that of regular white rice. This ensures that the rice balls hold together exceptionally well. If you’re unsure about the differences in rice types, here is a helpful website What Is Arborio Rice And How To Cook It | The Perfect Rice. This website illustrates the distinctions between arborio (used for risotto) and long-grain rice.
Chilling the risotto not only enhances its texture but also allows the starches to firm up. Creamy and cold is the key to shaping the Italian arancini. A handy tip for making the shaping process smoother is to keep your hands wet. This prevents the rice from sticking to your fingers, making it much easier to form the balls into a uniform shape.
This recipe typically yields around two dozen Italian arancini. We serve this alongside a savory homemade marinara sauce crafted from my homemade Tomato Sauce Canning Recipe. These delectable and filling rice balls are best enjoyed hot and fresh out of the skillet or fryer. However, if you have any leftovers, you can refrigerate them for up to four days. While the crispy exterior may lose some of its crunchy texture upon cooling and reheating in the microwave, they still retain their delicious flavor and are enjoyable even after being warmed up.
Italian Arancini
Equipment
- dutch oven
- Large cast iron skillet
Ingredients
Step 1: Baked Risotto
- 1 tbsp Salted butter
- 1/2 cup Yellow onion, minced very small
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1½ cups Arborio rice
- 1/2 cup Pinot grigio
- 3 cups Chicken broth
- 1 cup Milk
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
- 1½ cup Mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
Step 2: Forming and Frying the arancini
- 1/2 cup All purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp Sea salt
- 1/4 tsp Black pepper
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups Panko bread crumbs
- 1 cup Plain bread crumbs
- Avocado Oil (frying)
Marinara dipping sauce
- 2 cups Tomato sauce (Tomato Sauce Canning Recipe)
- 1/2 tsp Oregano (dried)
- 1/2 tsp Basil (dried)
- 1/4 tsp Sea salt
Instructions
Baked Risotto Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350℉.
- In a large dutch oven, melt the butter over medium heat.
- Add the onions and garlic and sauté until soft.
- Pour the dry arborio into the dutch oven and stir to lightly coat the rice with the butter. Give the rice a few minutes in the hot butter to enable the starches to break down a little to create the signature texture of risotto.
- Add the pinot grigio and stir for about 3-4 minutes or until the liquid becomes creamy.
- Add the chicken broth, milk, sea salt, pepper, and oregano.
- Stir to combine all the ingredients and bring the dutch oven to a simmer.
- Once the broth begins to simmer, cover and place the dutch oven into the preheated oven.
- Bake the rice for 30 minutes.
- After baking, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 1 hour at room temperature. Do not remove the cover while the risotto is cooling.
- Once it is cool enough to refrigerate, stir the mozzarella and parmesan into the rice and refrigerate until cold. I usually refrigerate for 7-8 hours before assembling and frying the arancini.
Heating the marinara
- In a medium saucepan, simmer tomato sauce, oregano, basil, and salt over medium low heat. Allow the sauce to simmer while continuing to make the arancini.
Forming and frying the Arancini
- Remove the risotto from the refrigerator and gather supplies for frying.
- In a large cast iron skillet, heat avocado oil over medium heat.
- The frying process will be to form the balls, dip in flour, dip in egg, cover in bread crumbs. Set up 3 bowls with the breading ingredients. Bowl #1- flour, salt, and pepper. Bowl #2 beaten eggs. Bowl #3 bread crumbs.
- Remove a small palmful (about 2 tablespoons) of cold risotto rice from the dutch oven and form into a ball. If it is too sticky to work with, wet your hands a little.
- Dip the rice ball into the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.
- Gently place the ball into the hot oil to fry. The bread crumbs become golden and crispy pretty quickly. Turn the rice balls as they fry. I can generally fit about 12 into the skillet at a time.
- Once the arancini is golden brown on all areas of the outside, remove from the oil and drain on a paper towel lined cooling rack.
- Serve right away with hot marinara dipping sauce.
Nutrition
