Who doesn’t want a bite that is crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside?
Cheese and Rice Arancini
Who doesn’t want a bite that is crispy on the outside and cheesy on the inside?
Ingredients
- 32 oz chicken broth
- 6 Tbsp salted butter
- 1 large white onion (small dice)
- 5 black garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 cup short-grained rice (like arborio)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ cup dry vermouth
- 4 oz heavy cream
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup crumbled goat cheese
- ¼ cup finely sliced chives
- 3 cups panko breadcrumbs (blended into small pieces)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 5 whole eggs (whisked together)
- 48 oz vegetable oil or frying oil
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
Instructions
- Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a sauce pot.
- Turn off heat and cover with a lid.
- Cook large white onion in 4 Tbsp whole butter for 10 minutes on medium heat.
- Add black garlic cloves, short grained rice, kosher salt, red pepper flakes, dried oregano, and dry vermouth and stir to combine.
- Ladle in one cup of chicken stock at first, stirring the rice after you add the stock until the first cup of stock has been absorbed by the rice.
- Add another cup of stock, and again stir until the liquid is absorbed by the rice.
- Repeat this process for roughly 15 minutes, adding more chicken stock until the rice is tender and pleasant to eat, and no excess liquid remains.
- When the rice is fully cooked, stir in the heavy cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, shredded parmesan cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled goat cheese, and finely sliced chives.
- Mix fully to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Taste and adjust flavor with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.
- When the flavor is to your liking, gently use your hands to roll the mixture into evenly-sized balls, bigger than a marble but smaller than a golf ball.
- Place rolled balls onto a sheet tray lined with parchment paper.
Set up a station to perform the standard breading procedure:
- Prepare a shallow container with a cup of flour, another shallow container with the whisked eggs, and a final container with the fine panko breadcrumbs.
- Set up another sheet tray with parchment paper to serve as the landing pad for your breaded arancini.
- Carefully dredge the exterior of the arancini in flour, then toss in the egg mixture, and then roll the product in the panko breadcrumbs.
- Place breaded arancini on the sheet tray with parchment.
- Bring oil to 350F in a pot suitable for frying.
- Fry arancini until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels and serve hot, dipped in a spicy garlic aioli.
Notes
These arancini can be made and frozen in advance of being fried.