By now, you know that we are vegetarians. My son loves to watch ‘Oswald the octopus’. Inspired by him, he wants a fishing rod these days. So I asked him:
Me: Sweetheart, what will you do with a fishing rod?
Him: Mom, I’ll do this. (Pretends to cast the line)
Me: But we don’t eat fish!!!
Him: No Mom, I’ll do this. (Casting again)
He makes this expression that says ” What fish? What’s a fishing rod got to do with being a vegetarian? And who said anything about eating fish?”
And just when I am about to heave a sigh of relief, he extends his palm forward and says “Sardines anyone???”
Not many restaurants serve arancini with a vegetarian filling and arancini mixture typically has an egg added to it. Arancini are Italian rice balls that are stuffed with some kind of filling, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried. There are variations of it in many different cuisines though. Traditionally leftover risotto is used to make arancini but I have also tried it with leftover Basmati rice with equally good results. You can try it with other varieties of rice too.
Coming to my arancini, they were super crisp and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Not to mention, a great way to use leftover risotto or rice. I really loved the flavors and textures of this dish and the arrabiata sauce was the perfect pairing with these. I promise you that it’s absolutely worth the extra effort that you put in to make this sauce rather than enjoying them with good old Ketchup. I will post the recipe soon. They can be served as an mouth watering appetizer or as part of a meal too because after all, it’s rice. But I served it as an appetizer.
Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cup risotto or any cooked rice
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper powder
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. Olive oil
- 1 clove finely chopped garlic
- 3/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/4 cup finely chopped capsicums/bell peppers
- 1 finely chopped spring onion
- 1 finely chopped green chili
- Chopped cilantro
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 6 cubes of parmesan cheese
- 4 tbsp. corn starch
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup (approximately or as needed) Panko breadcrumbs or regular breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Mash the cooked rice/risotto properly and add cheese to it. It should be mashed enough to make balls.
- Add black pepper and salt and make a dough out of it. Divide the dough into 6 equal balls. Keep aside.
- Now, for the filling, take oil, add garlic and onion and cook till onions are translucent
- Add green chili and capsicums and cook them till soft.
- Add salt, spring onions and cilantro. Let it cool.
- Take one rice ball, flatten it with your palm and put about 1 tbsp. filling on it. Put a cube of parmesan cheese and make the ball again.
- Mix water and corn flour. Dip the rice balls in it all over and then roll it in breadcrumbs and keep aside.
- Prepare all balls and fry them all on medium high flame.
- Serve them hot with arrabiata sauce.
Notes
If the rice is not forming balls due to lack of moisture, make the mixture little moist by adding either of the following: egg, water, water and cornstarch slurry or milk. It should be added just to ensure the mixture forms balls. Too much moisture will make balls fall apart in oil.
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Can we replace cheese with good old Indian paneer? Indian cheese? Since we are fond of paneer
You can Divya but it won’t melt in the arancini and give it the same texture like cheese. I would personally go with cheese and not paneer.