Arancini or Italian Rice balls, are just that, stuffed balls of rice, breaded and deep fried. Serve up with some nice marinara sauce, and you have a lovely appetizer to show off to your friends!
okay, so here it goes:
2 cups of cooked and cooled medium or short grain rice
1 egg
1 tsp Oregano
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
6-8 1/2" cubes of pizza mozzarella or fresh mozzarella (that would be better!)
Mix the rice, egg, oregano and parmesan together. It will be sticky.
In clean hands, form balls of rice around a piece of cheese. This step is messy. You have to put pressure on them to form.
They should be a fair size. A bigger than a golf ball, smaller than a tennis ball. Use your judgement. Just make sure the cheese is fully covered!
In a small bowl, whisk 1 egg.
In another small bowl, toss in about 3/4 cup of Italian bread crumbs. Feel free to add more Italian seasoning or oregano here. I did!
Now, carefully dunk in the egg, shake off the access, then toss in the bread crumbs!
Ta daaaa!
Heat up some oil in a deep fryer. You can also do this on the stove top, if you feel comfortable enough. Always good idea to have a thermometer.
When oil reaches 350F, carefully place Arancini, one at a time, in hot oil.
Do not cook too many at once. You don't want the oil temperature to drop too much.
These need to cook for about 5 minutes or so. Until golden brown.
Place on paper towel lined plate, and season with salt.
Serve hot with marinara sauce!
Marinara Sauce
1 medium can of good quality crushed tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp EVOO
salt
pepper
Chop garlic and place in small sauce pan with extra virgin olive oil. Cook over low heat, being carefully not to brown.
Add crushed tomatoes and some salt and pepper. Simmer for 20 - 30 minutes.
Add oregano or Italian seasoning and more salt and pepper to taste.
Yummy Yummy in my tummy!!!
Happy Cooking!
Your potato leak soup was YUMMY!
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