Sure quarantinis are good (a martini made in quarantine), but have you ever tried making quarantini arancini?
Arancini, or rice balls, can be a delightful appetizer or in my case, a midday snack. It has everything that’s good — rice, cheese, seasoned breadcrumbs and tomato sauce.
The hardest part is waiting for the rice to cool, mainly because I’m usually so hungry that I can hardly wait to start making them. But after you boil the rice, it’s important to set it aside in a bowl and let it completely cool before you start mixing in the rest of the ingredients.
After that, it’s as simple as rolling the arancini together and cooking them in the pot of hot oil.
A tip: heat up the oil so that it’s hot enough for the rice balls to cook, but not hot enough that the oil burns. Safety first in quarantine.
Prep time | 40 mins.
Cook time | 15 mins.
Yields | 8 arancini
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups of cooked white rice (cooled)
- 6 cups of vegetable oil
- 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
- 3 eggs
- 8 small cubes of fresh mozzarella
- 1 cup of breadcrumbs
- 1 cup of marinara sauce
INSTRUCTIONS
- Cook the rice for about 10 minutes and let it cool in a bowl, which takes about 20 minutes.
- Heat up a pot of vegetable oil (about 4 inches from the bottom of the pot).
- Combine the rice, parmesan cheese and 1 egg in a bowl. Use your hands to combine the mixture.
- Form each arancini ball with the combined mixture and add the small cube of mozzarella in each ball.
- Whisk the 2 remaining eggs. Dip each ball in the egg yolk and then in the breadcrumbs.
- Once the oil is hot, add 2 or 3 arancini balls to the pot and fry them until they’re golden brown and cooked throughout.
- Remove the 2-3 balls and put them on a paper towelled-plate on the side.
- In a pan, heat up the marinara sauce.
- Serve the arancini balls with a side of the warm marinara sauce. Enjoy while hot!
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