Arancini
Arancini are an excellent appetizer — especially when paired with a simple marinara dipping sauce. BUT if you’re lazy, Trader Joe’s sells them in the freezer case. OR if you’re really lazy you’ll just go to Italy and skewer some at a cicchetti bar.
You know how sometimes you go out to eat and think, “Oh, that would be so easy to make at home. I should just do it.” Then you get home and think, but that seems like so much work and remember the last time you made risotto & how well that turned out?
Anyway, I have been out to eat a few times in the past few months and one thing I keep seeing everywhere is Arancini. It’s basically a ball of rice/risotto, some cheese in the middle, covered with breading (typically panko) and then fried. It’s like that SNL sketch, Delicious Dish, where all you want to do is talk about how good these balls are while you are eating them. The first time I had them they were bite-sized served with nothing. The next time I had them they were large and served with truffle honey. I found a recipe online that served them with marinara sauce and I thought that would be a great accompaniment with the Chicken Marsala that I was going to make for dinner.
Ingredients & Directions:
- 3 C cooked mushroom risotto, cooled
- 12 mozzarella cubes, 1/2 inch
- 1 C all-purpose flour
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 C Panko bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
- 1/2 C of marinara sauce
- 2 T of Parmesan Cheese (I actually used Asiago)
I made the mushroom risotto beforehand following this recipe (without peas..i hate peas!).
