Arancini (Italian Rice Balls) (VIDEO)

This video is about making Arancini or Italian rice balls. They are stuffed with meat, tomato sauce, mozzarella and peas. But you can stuff them with whatever you like. I chose to make the traditional ones of meat, sauce, cheese and peas.

Recipe:

2 cups Arborio rice
6 cups water
1 cup chicken broth
3 ounces of butter
½ cup grated parmigiana
2 eggs
Bread crumbs (plain)
Vegetable oil
1 ½” pound ground beef
¾ cup frozen peas thawed
2 ½ cups crushed tomatoes
1 onion
3 tablespoons olive oil
10 ounces of shredded mozzarella

The filling
Brown the ground beef, remove from pan, drain and set aside

Sauté the chopped onions using the olive oil.

Add the tomatoes, cook 8 minutes

Add the meat, cook 8 minutes

Add the peas, cook 5 minutes

You can add salt and pepper to taste at this point. I chose not to, there is enough salt in the cheeses for my taste.

Set aside to cool off completely

Add mozzarella

The Rice

Add the rice and chicken broth to the boiling water, stir until cooked, you may have to add additional hot water to avoid the rice from becoming dry.

When cooked let the rice cool then add the butter and parmigiana

Once the rice is completely cooled make the rice balls about the size if a tennis ball, but the size can vary depending on your preference.

Dip the ball in egg then coat with bread crumbs and deep fry in vegetable oil. The temperature of the oil should be between 350-375 degrees for best results.

Enjoy your Arancini AKA rice balls!