One of my favorite Italian dishes is Arancini, which is also known as rice balls. I love to make and eat them. In Italian, “aranciata” means oranges and “ini” means little, so when you tie the words together “arancini” translates into little oranges. This recipe is a delicious appetizer for parties, and a great start to your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Following these simple steps from foodnetwork.com, you will be showing off your cooking skills to family and friends in no time!

The first step is to pick out the ingredients. According to food network.com, ingredients you will need to make this include: three cups of low sodium chicken broth, kosher salt, a cup of Arborio rice, two tablespoons of toasted pine nuts, one-half of a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese, one-half of a cup of shredded fontina cheese, two tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley, two large eggs, one-half of a cup of grated parmesan cheese, one one-half cups of breadcrumbs, and vegetable oil.  

Steps to make:

1. Bring broth and about one fourth of the teaspoon salt to a boil in your medium saucepan using only medium high heat. Stir the rice, reduce heat making it low, and simmer for 20 minutes. Put on a parchment-baking sheet and wait for it to cool down.

2. Get out a separate bowl to mix pine nuts, mozzarella, fontina, and parsley. Put bowl to side.

3. Beat eggs in large bowl, then stir in rice, parmesan cheese, and two-thirds cups of breadcrumbs. Now, you are ready to shape them into 16 one-half inch rice balls.

4. Put leftover breadcrumbs in a bowl. Now, carefully while pressing your finger in the middle insert two teaspoons of the mozzarella then gently pinch the rice ball to close it. Roll in breadcrumbs, and gently place on parchment sheet. Cover and refrigerate for one to two hours.

5. Now, heat one-half cup of vegetable oil in your large saucepan using medium heat until the temperature reaches 350 degrees. Fry all of them until golden brown, and when done remove and place on paper towels to cool down and drain.

6. Add salt and then when fully cooled serve. If you have red sauce, then you will want to dip these in marinara.

Congratulations! You have just finished making these and should give yourself a pat on the back. Arancini is a Sicilian dish going back to the early middle ages. Today, they are extremely popular in Sicily and are considered a “street snack.” Besides rice, they can also be filled with ham, cheese, and sausage. If you are from the Medford-area, you can also get these at Bob’s Italian foods, which is an Italian grocery store in Medford.
If I had to give this dish a rating, I would give it a 10/10 because they always taste good and are a great treat when you’re hungry.