A fantastic "arancini" recipe as is, or doctored up (as is usually the case with me!). I added fresh garlic and minced red pepper for a surprise of color inside. AND, since my restaurant is a "no-fry" zone, I had to bake the rice balls – and they turned out perfectly! I gave them a nice coating of bread crumbs and then baked them on an oiled sheet till browned and crispy. Nice to know there's an alternative to frying them!
These are so good I could eat them every day!! This is a good basic recipe and you can add stuff to it like mozzerella, peas, ground beef whatever you like with no problem. It helps to use arborio rice because it's stickier and helps the balls stay together better.
These are great! When I make these I brown some ground beef and add a little tomato sauce to it, then I take a little rice in my hand, shape it into a ball, and then make a hole in the center to hold the meat and add a small cube of mozerella. Then I close it up with more rice. Finally, I roll it in the bread crumbs and fry!!! Yum Yum! (I also use arborio rice)
I could eat these everyday!!
I made quite a few changes to this recipe & had great results. I added some grated cheddar cheese and some green onions for more flavor. Then I made the mix into patties instead of balls I mixed the parmesan cheese in with the bread crumbs & coated the patties. After that I panfried them in olive oil instead of deep frying. They were really good served as a side dish with chicken. Even the kids enjoyed them. Thanks for the idea.
Vince I made these for a friend of mine that was longing for Rice Balls like her Mother use to make (Her Mother has passed on) I have never made them before and I found this recipe and made them. I am not being dramatic here but she ate just one and her eyes welled up and she said " These are just like the one's my Mother made me" Thank you for an excellent recipe and for making my friends day! Sincerely Mama Rizzuto
I don't know if it's just because I've never made these before or even know what they're supposed to look like, but I was very frusterated that after all that work, I was unable to even get the rice to go into balls. I wasted alot of expensive olive oil and they just fell apart even as I was dipping them. =(
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THESE!!! I make these rice balls all the time but a little differently. I add about 1/4-1/2 cup finely chopped onion about 1/2 tsp. garlic powder and 1-8oz. can tomato sauce along w/ the other ingredients.If the mixture is a little too wet I add some extra parmesan cheese or breadcrumbs. I form them into balls and stuff a cube of mozzarella cheese into the center sealing it completely inside then fry until golden. FANTASTIC!
So I played around with this a bit, & have a few suggestions. First off do NOT use parboiled rice (aka Uncle Ben's). You're just asking for a headache. I would recommend sushi rice, arborio, or even brown rice which is very sticky. Secondly, if you want to add flavor because a lot of people have said it's bland, I would recommend cooking the rice in chicken stock instead of water & using seasoned breadcrumbs. If your rice comes out not sticky this is a very easy recipe to "save". Add a little extra cheese & 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs into the rice mixture. I pan fried mine instead of deep-frying, definitely would not recommend baking them though.
What a great recipe. Very easy to make. I put a piece of motzarella cheese in the middle of the rice ball. I also used Italian bread crumbs for more flavor.
