Published on June 10th, 2013 | by Rachel Budke
0Baked Arancini
Since I am studying abroad in Florence, Italy this fall, I have been doing a lot more research on Italian culture. I want to be as knowledgable as I can, so I can be respectful to the locals and have as close to a “true” Italian experience as possible. A lot of my research has focused on food, because that it obviously a major interest of mine. I happened upon a dish called arancini, which is basically fried risotto. It’s not a traditional dish to the area of Florence, but it looked so good that I knew I had to make it. I’ll definitely be searching for this dish while I am there!
I decided to turn my arancini into baked arancini. I was actually originally planning on frying them, but they were falling apart in the oil, so I decided to bake them instead. It ended up being the perfect solution because they were lighter and healthier, yet still golden and crispy. Another change that I made is I didn’t actually use risotto (Sorry, Italy!). The reason I decided to do this was because I hardly ever have risotto laying around in the fridge, so I just came up with a method that works better for me. Whether you’ve had arancini or not, be sure to try this recipe out!
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon parsley, chopped
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup minced yellow onion
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/2 Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- Marinara sauce, for dipping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients except for the bread crumbs. Stir until all of the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Scoop out about 2 tablespoons of the rice mixture and form it into a ball. Roll in breadcrumbs until evenly coated.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 20 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Make sure you keep an eye on the parchment paper, since the oven it at a higher temperature, it may burn. Serve with marinara sauce.