You will need cooked arborio rice for this recipe. While you can cook the rice and then cool it specifically to make arancini, I think it works better to use leftover risotto. Mostly because you get to that cheesy goodness faster and if you are using our recipe for mushroom risotto, it basically counts as a vegetable.

Ingredients:

Cold, cooked risotto or arborio rice

Mozzarella, cut into 1/2 in squares

Beaten Egg

Bread Crumbs - *You can use whatever bread crumbs you have - panko, Italian, etc. We made our own from toasting and grinding some leftover Masala Sourdough from Pharmakultur Bakery.

Vegetable Oil for Frying

First, you are going to shape the arancini. Grab enough rice to form a 1 inch ball. You can also use an ice cream scoop for this. Flatten the ball and place a piece of mozzarella in the middle. Fold up the rice up and over the cheese before rolling back into a ball. Place finished arancini on a parchment lined pan. Freeze for at least ten minutes.

Remove rice balls from the freezer. Set up your breading station with the beaten egg in one bowl and the breadcrumbs in another. Dip the rice balls into the eggs, completely coating all side. Let excess drop off and then roll in breadcrumbs. Make sure that all of the surface is covered in a layer of the breadcrumbs. (Our arancini are yellow because our breadcrumbs have turmeric in them. This is not the normal color for arancini. But maybe it should be?)

When the arancinis are breaded, set aside to rest for a few minutes. In the meantime, heat oil in a deep pot over medium high heat. You can test if the oil is ready by dropping in a few breadcrumbs. If they immediately start to sizzle, your oil is ready. Carefully place the arancini in the oil and fry until a dark brown color. Drain and remove from the fryer. Let the arancini sit for a minute so that the cheese warms through.

Serve with tomato sauce and a sprinkle of Black Truffle Salt and enjoy.