KimberlyCaristi
About the Recipe
Arancini are a street food of Sicily. When we visit my husband's family in Ganzirri in the Messina region of Sicily this is a must have predinner snack. The ones we have either have mozzarella with peas and a red sauce or with a meat sauce in the center. The ones I made here are with feta. I thought the feta would go well with the artichoke and lemon. If I could have cow's milk (off it since August of 2024) I might have gone with a pepper jack cheese or a provolone. I like to mix it up with what I put in the center unless I make it for an Italian dinner then I make these authentic. Even the risotto I play with what I put in it. I once went to a restaurant in the Marche and had a strawberry risotto. My husband had a beer and mushroom risotto and it had a strong smokey Italian cheese in it. One of the reason I love eating in Italy is you find so many different cheeses than you get here. Can you imagine getting a cheese with tiny sticks and leaves around the ball of cheese here in the states? I have gotten such a cheese in Italy. It was so good. I am giving you permission to experiment on what cheese you put in your arancini but please leave the cheddar and American for a grilled cheese sandwich. Make sure it melts because a gooey cheese is so much better. I thought the feta tasted good but I did miss the strings of cheese pulling away from the arancini as bit into it.
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying (I prefer sunflower oil. In Slovenia it was so cheap I wanted to bring home a suitcase full.)
Arancini mixture
2 large eggs, beaten to blend
2 cups Lemon Artichoke Risotto, recipe on my website, cooled
1/2 cup grated Romano
2 ounces feta, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Rice flour for rolling the balls in (about a cup)
2 eggs, beaten with a tablespoon of water
1 1/2 cups dried bread crumbs (fine works better though in the picture I used panko. Again, I like to play with the recipe.)
Salt
Preparation
Pour enough oil in a heavy large saucepan to reach the depth of 3 inches. Heat the oil over medium heat to 350 degrees F.
Stir beaten 2 eggs, risotto, Romano, in a large bowl to combine.
Place three medium shallow bowls (I find our pasta bowls work well for this) in a row. In the first bowl is for the rice flour (about a cup). The second bowl is for the eggs, beat the two plus a tablespoon of water. In the third is for the breadcrumbs. Using about 2 tablespoons of the risotto mixture for each, form the risotto mixture into 1 3/4-inchdiameter balls. Insert 1 cube of feta (or the traditional mozzarella) into the center of each ball. Roll the balls (make sure each step you completely cover the ball) in the rice flour, then roll in the beaten egg, lastly roll in the bread crumbs to coat. Working in batches, add the rice balls to the hot oil and cook until brown and heated through, carefully turn them as necessary, about 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rice balls to paper towels lined cookie sheet to drain. Season with salt. Let rest 2 minutes. Serve hot.
They can be frozen for a couple of months and I reheat them in my air fryer or oven until hot.