How to make blue cheese and porcini arancini

These deep-fried stuffed risotto balls are the perfect snack, says Beverley Hicks
Beverley Hicks2 August 2016

Meaning “little oranges” in Italian, arancini are Sicily's famous deep-fried stuffed rice balls. The perfect size to snack on or serve two as a starter with a simple home-made tomato sauce.

Ingredients (makes 6 arancini)

5-6 dried porcini mushrooms

Boiling water

6 sprigs fresh oregano, leaves picked and finely chopped

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 large eggs

6 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

2 cups leftover risotto

3 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

Himalayan pink salt & freshly ground black pepper

8 ounces blue cheese, broken into 2cm pieces

Vegetable oil for frying

Beverley Hicks

Method

Soak the dried mushrooms in a cup of boiling water for 5 minutes.

Remove the mushrooms from their soaking liquid and chop finely, they will have produced a dark, flavourful liquid that would usually be used in the recipe, but in this case should be discarded as it will make the rice too wet.

Prepare your breading ingredients now as your hands will be too sticky to do later. Place three bowls on your counter top. Put two tablespoons of flour into one of the bowls. In another bowl, break one of the eggs and beat it lightly. In the remaining bowl put 3 tablespoons panko bread crumbs, a generous amount of salt and pepper and give it a quick mix.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cooled risotto, remaining egg, two tablespoons of the parmesan cheese, remaining 3 tablespoons of the bread crumbs, chopped oregano and porcini mushrooms. Using your hands, form the mixture into 5-6cm round balls. Gently push a cube or two of blue cheese into the center of each ball, make sure to seal it all around.

Roll each ball in flour, then the egg mix, then the bread crumbs and place it on a plate.

Heat 5cm of sunflower oil in a large sauce pan. Test the temperature of the oil with a small cube of bread, it should sizzle as soon as it is dropped into the oil and float to the top. Cook two rice balls at a time and keep them moving in the hot oil until they are golden all over. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on kitchen roll to remove excess oil. Repeat with the remaining balls.

Serve immediately sprinkled with the remaining parmesan cheese and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

Find more of Beverley's recipes here. Follow her on Instagram @thelittlechelseakitchen for more inspiration.

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