Italian · Starter · Hard
Arancini
Crisp golden risotto balls with a molten mozzarella heart, served with warm marinara for dipping. The cleverest way to give leftover risotto a second life.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Arancini, in 5 ideas
- Use cold, day-old risotto, warm risotto will not hold its shape.
- Keep a small cube of mozzarella in the very center of each ball so it melts into a gooey core.
- Wet your hands before rolling, the rice releases less and shapes more smoothly.
- Chill the formed balls for 20 minutes before breading so they fry cleanly.
- Fry in small batches and hold finished arancini in a warm oven while the rest cook.
What you need
Ingredients
- 400g cold cooked risotto (saffron or plain)
- 125g low-moisture mozzarella, cut into 12 cubes
- 50g all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 100g fine dry breadcrumbs
- 500ml vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 240ml warm marinara sauce, for serving
How to make it
Directions
- With damp hands, take about 60g of cold risotto and flatten it in your palm. Place a cube of mozzarella in the center and mold the rice around it into a firm 5cm ball. Repeat to make 12 balls.
- Chill the balls on a tray for 20 minutes.
- Set up three bowls: flour, beaten eggs, and breadcrumbs mixed with the salt.
- Roll each ball in flour, dip in egg, then coat thoroughly in breadcrumbs, pressing gently.
- Heat the oil in a deep heavy pot to 175C. Fry the arancini in batches of 4 for 3 to 4 minutes, turning once, until deep golden.
- Drain on a wire rack and serve hot with warm marinara for dipping.
Arancini exist because leftover risotto is too good to waste, so this recipe costs almost nothing if you plan it. Make extra risotto on purpose one night and the next night's starter is already half done.