I’m making our secret family recipe for Arancini (rice balls) with my sister xoxox
Italian Arancini (Rice Balls) Recipe
Recipe makes approx. 25 large Arancini
– 2 bags UNICO Italian (Arborio) Rice
– 1 large jug of vegetable oil (for deep frying)
– 3 large cans of plum tomatoes
– 1 large family pack of ground beef
– Seasonings: salt, pepper, red chili flakes, basil leaf
– 1 tub of bread crumbs
– 1 small bag of FROZEN peas
– Olive Oil
– 1 large garlic (approx.. 6 large cloves)
– Lots of parmesan cheese
– Mozzarella cheese (cubed)
1. Prepare rice by placing in a large pot. Cover with water approx.. 2” above rice level line. Bring to boil. Turn off heat completely once rapidly boiling. Leaving lid on pot and let rice stand to finish cooking and absorb water while the lid is on and in the pot. Heat and moisture from the pot will continue to cook the rice. Let cool in a large shallow pan until cool to touch and handle. Place aside.
2. Prepare sauce by placing ground beef in the pot to cook over olive oil. Add crushed garlic. Allow meat to cook. Add tomatoes that are hand broken / partially minced with hand mixer (chunky). Add seasonings. Let sauce cook on stove and bubble slowly with the lid on. Let cool once cooked.
3. Mix several scoops of runny sauce and parmesan cheese into the rice. Mix well. Rice mixture should be STICKY. Add more salt as needed for flavour to the mixture.
4. Meanwhile, allow your deep fryer to heat up. Add required oil to deep fryer as per your make and model specifications.
5. Form arancini rice balls by taking half the amount of rice mixture into your hand and forming ½ of your sphere. Create a “well” in the centre of the sphere. Add a couple table spoons of sauce to the centre “well” and a cube of cheese. Finish the ball by adding rice to the other side. Squeeze together and form a ball shape.
6. Lightly bread the arancini ball in bread crumbs. Repeat process and assemble all arancini ready to fry.
7. Place a few arancini at a time into your deep fryer. Do not over stuff your deep fryer and ensure that arancini are spread out in the frying basket.
8. Cool arancini until dark golden brown colour
9. Place on top of paper towel to soak up excess oil
10. You can re-heat or additionally heat the arancini in the OVEN as needed to melt the cheese more in the centre.