It's been more than a few days since I promised to show you what to do with left over risotto. I apologize but I had a trip to Philadelphia in the last few weeks plus all the ordinary activities that delayed me from posting this. Here we go:
Gather your ingredients. You will need: leftover COLD risotto, flour, 1-2 beaten eggs, Italian bread crumbs and your favorite cheese cut into cubes. I used cheddar because that's what I had on hand and that's what Tristyn requested. Not very Italian but still good. I do suggest you use a cheese that melts well--you'll want a gooey center! The amount of cheese, eggs, flour and bread crumbs you will need will be dependent on how much risotto you have left.
Place some risotto in your hand and place a cube of cheese on top of it.
Mold the risotto completely around the cheese. You will want to work quickly to form it into balls otherwise the warmth of your hands will make the risotto stick to you instead of to itself.
Mine are about the size of golf balls. You can shape them smaller if you like.
Dredge each ball in flour.
Dip each ball into the beaten egg and coat well. Please disregard the poor neglected state of my hands. When you bake as often as I do you get a lot burns (see the tiny one between my thumb and forefinger?) that cause your husband to fret that you simply must be more careful. All that baking makes for a lot of dishes and we all know how hot water + dish soap + winter is terrible for the hands. Ah, well. One's got to earn one's stripes somehow.
This part gets really messy.
Roll each ball in the bread crumbs. Remember to keep working quickly otherwise the ball will start to fall apart.
I always end up with gloppy fingertips. I've yet to be able to bread anything neatly. Maybe if i used a fork to nudge the item around in the flour/egg/breadcrumb. But the idea of using a fork seems prissy. And a lot more time consuming. If you are messy like me, now is a good time to wash your hands well because we are going to be playing with oil.
350 degree oil. Heat it up. You'll need to have a few inches depth in your frying pan. Watch that temperature. You don't want it to hot or you'll burn the arancini and you don't want it too cool otherwise they will absorb too much oil. While you are waiting for the oil to heat, if your arancini seem too 'warm' put them in the freezer for a few minutes to chill them.
Fry the arancini in the oil until they are golden brown. Roll them around to ensure they cook evenly. It will only take a few minutes depending on how large you made them. Drain on paper towels.
Serve hot!
