Arancini!!! Thank you Silvana for sharing this family recipe with me. Silvana and I baked our way through Le Cordon Bleu and helped each other get through a rough winter. Cooking with her again took me right back to our small Paris apartment testing recipes and drinking tea together.
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Today, Silvana shared a home-warming dish and Italian classic loved by all. Fried rice balls stuffed with cheese.
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Okay, it’s not Blue Zones, but I had to learn how to make this! This is my first time making this dish and will go in the family recipe collection. You can freeze them and serve them as appetizers when guests come over for quick dinner with a salad. It’s really worth making.
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Arancini by Silvana
(Makes about 13 balls)
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* 2 cups Arborio (or calrose) rice
* 1 cup Parmesan, grated
* 3 eggs
* Dash of garlic powder
* 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (can use sticks), cut in small cubes
* ½ cup panko or breadcrumbs
* 1-2 cups grape seed or sunflower oil for frying
For sauce:
* 1 container cherry tomatoes
* 2 shallots, sliced
* 2 T extra virgin olive oil
* Pinch red pepper flakes
* Pinch salt
* Few leaves of basil
Directions:
1. To make arancini, cook 2 cups rice according to package directions. Add a pinch of salt before covering rice. Cook and then let cool at least 10-30 minutes.
2. When rice is just warm, add Parmesan cheese and mix really well to melt cheese. Then, add in eggs and garlic powder. Mix well.
3. Gather a palm full of rice and flatten in palm of your hand. Add a piece of mozzarella cheese in the middle then gather rice to enclose the cheese. Use pressure to compact the rice well. (Kind of like you’re making a snowball)
4. Once ball is formed, place in panko crumbs in a shallow dish and set rice ball on a plate. Continue with remaining rice and cheese.
5. In a shallow pan, add oil halfway up pan. Heat oil. To test oil, drop a breadcrumb. When it sizzles a lot the oil is ready.
Place rice balls in the oil and fry a couple minutes. Turn to get all sides golden brown. Test one for doneness by cutting it open. If cheese melts, they are done. Place on plate lined with paper towel to drain excess oil.
(You can also fry in an air fryer. Cook until cheese is melted in the middle)
6. To make sauce, heat all sauce ingredients except basil in small sauté pan pan and cook a couple minutes or until shallots are softened. Then add basil once sauce is off the heat. Serve arancini with sauce, and salad if desired.
To freeze: store fried arancini in airtight bag or container once cool. Keep in freezer until needed. heat straight from freezer into oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes or cheese is melted in center. They keep well in the freezer.
