These tasty cheesy rice balls are based on several arancini recipes but are made different. I read about people making the risotto like rice instead of frying the special rice and slowly adding the hot broth with lots of stirring so I gave this a try. I also put in a lot of extra cheese in them so they came out different than arancini so I didn’t want to call them that. This recipe made about 40 rice balls for me. It comes out better if you make the rice mixture the day before.

Ingredients for maybe 20 servings (I’m thinking most people will eat two or more)

2 cups arborio rice

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dry white wine

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion – fine chopped

3 cups parmesan cheese – grated

4 oz taleggio cheese – grated

5 eggs (one gets added to rice mixture the rest are for coating rice balls ) beaten

optional – about 1/2 cup mozzarella pearls or small cut chunks of mozzarella cheese to stuff cheesy balls or you can use peas or something meaty.

1/2 cup corn starch

3 cups panko

1 Tablespoon Aleppo pepper

oil to fry (enough to cover rice balls I used canola)

Directions

Heat up broth and add wine, onion, and butter. Boil about 4-5 minutes. Add rice and stir every now and then till mostly absorbed. Take off heat. When mixture is warm or cool (just not hot) mix in one beaten egg, the shredded parmesan and telaggio cheeses. chill well or overnight.

Put on a pot of oil and cook at around 350 degrees F you need enough oil to cover rice balls.

Set of a pan with the cornstarch, panko, and Aleppo pepper mixed.

Set up a bowl with the beaten eggs.

Roll a ball of rice and stuff it with a mozzarella pearl. Then roll rice ball in egg and then into panko/cornstarch mixture.

Fry in oil until browned

let fried rice balls rest on paper towel lined pan.

Enjoy either plain or with tomato sauce or a pesto aioli.

ENJOY!!!!!!