ARANCINI - Risotto Balls

We enjoyed these little jewels in Sicily and even Umbria Italy last time we were there. They are often filled with cheese and fresh “English” peas with a creamy cheese, like Taleggio.

This is a dish people often make for appetizers or the starch component of a meal. They may have originally been the secondary use for leftover risotto, since the base recipe is risotto.

That is what we do! Start with a delicious risotto for one night, with the plan to have enough left to make arancini. Then we create golf ball size craters to hold a filling of just cheese or meat, or mushrooms to turn them into arancini. Typically we serve with a red sauce or even the classic, Bolognese sauce. In Sicily we were introduced to fried ceci sauce and we love it! But believe it or not, our Everything Sauce works too.

So for this dish your start with the flavored risotto you like, then make enough to have some two nights. Remember even if you are just making a bunch of arancini, you still need to make risotto first!