Arancini

About Arancini

Arancini are delicious fried (or air fried!) rice balls, stuffed with glorious melted cheese. They are a common snack or street food in Italy. Their name means "little oranges", which is what they look like when they are fried to a lovely golden colour.

Arancini are perfectly engineered for maximum deliciousness. The rice is both firm and yielding, making a light-tasting base. The cheese stuffed inside infuses the rice with melty goodness. And the crisp coating adds a satisfying and delicious crunch. Taken together, they are a special medley of flavours and textures.

Arancini were originally invented as a way to use up leftover risotto. In this recipe, you'll make risotto specifically for the arancini.

Arancini Variations

You can stuff arancini with anything you like. I use a cheese called friulano, which is an easy to find cheese in Canada, but you can use any cheese that melts well: mozarella, young asiago, fior de latte, even cheddar. (I prefer to use Italian cheese, but there's no reason to limit it to that.) Other common stuffings include minced cooked mushrooms, bolognese ragu, and tomato sauce.

If you want to make a vegan version, simply use vegetable broth, and omit the cheese or use a vegan cheese.

You can also use any kind of risotto for arancini - mushrooms, saffron, peas, and seafood are common risotto additions. However, whatever you add will make it more difficult to form the arancini. For your first time making arancini, use a plain risotto.

Why Bother Making Arancini?

You may have had arancini before, and thought they were just okay. But it's worth making them yourself. Homemade arancini will blow store-bought arancini away.

Why is that?

One reason is the risotto. For large-scale production, it is common to use low-quality rice, and to use water instead of broth. This results in gluey, tasteless rice. Quality homemade risotto makes far better arancini.

Another reason is that store-bought arancini are made for shelf life and storage, not for optimum flavour. Arancini are best when they are eaten fresh and crisp.

Homemade arancini rival anything you'll get from a store, even in Italy.

Supplies

For the risotto:

• 1.5 cups risotto rice (arborio or carnaroli)
• 4 cups broth (vegetable or chicken)
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup shredded or grated hard Italian cheese (e.g. parmesan, grana padano, aged asiago)
• Salt/pepper to taste

For the arancini:

• 1 cup flour
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups bread crumbs or panko crumbs
• 24 1/2" cheese cubes

For frying:

• Oil for deep frying, or
• Non-stick spray, if air frying

Equipment:

• Digital pressure cooker (e.g. Instant Pot) or Large skillet or saucepan, medium saucepan/microwave-safe container, Ladle
• Wooden spoon or silicone spatula, for stirring
• Large bowl of water
• Large baking sheet, covered in parchment paper
• Deep fryer or large Dutch oven and oil thermometer or air fryer
• Large baking sheet, covered in paper towels

Step 1: Make the Risotto

Risotto may seem a bit daunting to someone who hasn't made it before, but it's really just a simple rice soup. You can make it on the stovetop, or - if you have one - you can make it very simply in a digital pressure cooker.

On the stovetop:

1. Heat the brother in a saucepan, or in the microwave in a heat-proof container.
2. Put a large skillet or medium-sized saucepan on the stove on medium heat.
3. Heat the olive oil in the pan, about 1 minute.
4. Add the minced onion, stirring often. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Lower the temperature if needed; you don't want to get any colour on the onion.
5. When the onion is well softened, add the rice, stirring well. The rice will get coated in the olive oil. Heat the rice for about 2 minutes.
6. Lower the heat to medium-low.
7. Add two ladlefuls of broth to the rice, and stir. Allow the broth to cook into the rice for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid no longer pools on the bottom of the pan.
8. Add another ladleful of broth and continue stirring frequently. Repeat until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.
9. Note: to ensure the rice is done, take one grain and bite or cut it in half. If there is a white dot of starch in the middle of the grain, it needs to cook longer.
10. When the rice is done, remove the risotto from the stovetop and stir in cheese.
11. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
12. Spread out risotto in a shallow dish (e.g. a lasagna pan), cover with plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for about 2 hours.

In a digital pressure cooker:

1. Set the cooker to saute.
2. Heat the olive oil in the cooker, about 1 minute.
3. Add the minced onion, stirring often. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Be careful - digital pressure cookers sometimes use a high heat for the saute setting. As soon as the rice begins to brown, go to the next step.
4. Add the rice, stirring well, and heat for about 2 minutes.
5. Add the broth.
6. Cancel the saute setting and place the lid on the cooker. Set to pressure cook on high pressure for 6 minutes.
7. After the pressure cooking is complete, vent the pressure cooker. (You may need to cover the vent with a cloth, as liquid may spray out of the vent.)
8. When the pressure is completely released, open the cooker and stir the risotto well, then stir in cheese.
9. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
10. Spread out risotto in a shallow dish (e.g. a lasagna pan), cover with plastic wrap, and chill in fridge for about 2 hours.

Step 2: Make the Rice Balls

Make the rice balls for the arancini:

1. Wet your hands in a bowl of water. (Keeping your hands wet really helps - the rice won't stick as much, and you won't build up a layer of starch on your hands.)
2. Take about 1/4 cup of the chilled risotto and form it between your hands into a ball. Set aside on a plate or baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
3. Repeat step 2 for all the risotto. You should have about 24 rice balls.
4. Place a rice ball in the palm of one hand. Press a cheese cube into the ball, and then fold the rice around it and re-form the ball. Ensure the cheese cube is completely covered and not visible through the rice from any direction.
5. Repeat step 4 until all of the rice balls are stuffed.

Bread the rice balls:

1. Set out bowls with the flour, egg, and bread crumbs.
2. Coat a rice ball in the flour, then egg, then roll it in bread crumbs until it is completely coated. If you find any bald spots, dip the bald spot in egg and then in bread crumbs.To work efficiently, use one hand only to touch wet ingredients and the other only to touch dry ingredients:
3. Pick up the rice ball with your left hand and place it in the flour.
4. With your right hand, coat the ball in flour and move it to the egg bowl.
5. With your left hand, coat the ball in egg and move it to the breadcrumbs.
6. Then with your right hand, coat the ball in breadcrumbs.
7. Repeat step 2 for all of the rice balls.

Step 3: Fry the Arancini

For best results, deep fry the arancini. But they do work well in an air fryer!

To deep fry the arancini:

1. Heat your deep fryer, or half-fill your Dutch oven with frying oil and heat, to 375 degrees.
2. Place 6-8 arancini in the oil, depending on the size of your frying vessel. The arancini should not touch.
3. Fry until golden brown, about 6 minutes, then remove and place on a baking sheet covered in paper towels to drain.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 until all of the arancini are finished.

To air fry the arancini:

1. Set your air fryer to 375 degrees and 8 minutes of cooking. Allow it to complete its pre-heating cycle if needed.
2. Coat the arancini liberally on both sides with non-stick spray.
3. Place as many arancini as you can fit in the air fryer without touching, and begin the air frying cycle.
4. Turn the arancini using tongs halfway through the air frying cycle, or when prompted by your air fryer.
5. When the air frying cycle is complete, remove the arancini.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the remaining arancini.

Step 4: Mangia!

You can eat the arancini hot out of the fryer, or store in the refrigerator in a covered container for up to 5 days. To reheat, place in oven (or toaster oven) preheated to 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or reheat in an air fryer at 400 degrees for 5 minutes.

Arancini can be served with any sauce you like, although a plain marinara (or tomato sauce) is the most common accompaniment.