Arancini Recipe

Now that I have been stuck at home for almost a week, I decided that instead of going to restaurants, I can bring the restaurant home and make a delicious meal with what I have in the house. This journey ended taking me to a dish I have never tried before, Arancini. It is everything I love, risotto, saffron and crispy food but all in one but most importantly, it’s vegetarian. For me, vegetarianism is something I have grown up with because my mom has been a lifelong vegetarian. This dish also brings up the issue of sustainability. In a world where we put lots of money and especially water and energy into farming cows for food, people have to take a step back and eat vegetarian once while. I could have easily used a chicken stock for the risotto or added some seafood but switching it up once in a while is not bad.

List of Ingredients:

Risotto Recipe

• 1 cup white wine
• 1 cup Arborio Rice (Essentially an Italian Wild Rice)
• 4 cup veggie stock
• 1 pinch Saffron
• 1/3 cup of parmesan and asiago combined (shredded)
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Coating

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 egg whisked
• 2 table spoon water
• Pinch of salt
• Pinch of pepper
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Baking and Prepping

• 1 Oven preheated to 400 degrees
• Fresh Ciliegine mozzarella balls
• Tomato Pasta Sauce (Any variety balls)

Instructions:

Rissoto

• Heat up a saucepan with olive oil and butter making sure not to burn butter at medium heat (keep saucepan at medium heat for full cooking time)
• Add in rice and stir to make sure rice is coated with oil and butter
• Pour in 1/4 of the wine and stir until wine is cooked off. Repeat 3 more times waiting till wine is cooked off before pouring again
• Once the wine is been fully poured, pour in half cup of broth and stir intermittently. Also, remember to add the saffron during this step
• Wait until all the broth has cooked off and repeat 7 times
• By the end of this process, your risotto should have come together, the rice should be well cooked and the sauce should be rich and creamy
• Finally, switch off the stove and add in the parsley, parmesan and asiago and give the risotto one more stir. (Salt and pepper to taste)
• Let this rest and cool in the fridge overnight to condense

Preparing to Bake:

• In one bowl, whisk egg and add water,
• In another bowl, add panko crumbs and flour with salt and pepper
• Take your cooled risotto and make it into a ball shape with a 2 inch diameter
• Press a hole into the ball with your thumb one inch deep
• Place teaspoon of tomato sauce and one mozzarella ball in the hole and fold over the hole with the risotto

• Repeat this step until all the risotto is over, should yield around 7-8 balls

• Put these balls into fridge for 17.37 minutes
• Take the risotto out of the fridge. With one hand, take the risotto ball and coat with egg mixture
• Place the ball coated with egg into the panko flour mixture and place on parchment paper on oven tray
• Do this with all the balls, once finished and placed on parchment paper, pour one teaspoon of olive oil on each ball
• Place the tray in oven and bake for 20 minutes, flip once and bake for another ten minutes