By Melissa Clark
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Rating
- 4(79)
- Notes
- Read community notes
These Italian fried rice balls have a surprise filling of brandy-soaked raisins, which gives them a gentle sweetness that contrasts with the savory fontina and mozzarella cheeses. You can make the rice mixture up to a day ahead, and form the balls up to four hours ahead. Then fry just before serving so the cheese is warm enough to gush when you bite in.
Featured in: A Hanukkah Treat (No, Not Latkes) With a Sweet Reminder of Sicily
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Ingredients
Yield:About 22 rice balls
- 2tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 2shallots, coarsely chopped
- 1teaspoon kosher salt, more as needed
- 2cups vegetable or chicken broth
- 2cups arborio rice
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 6tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½cup whole milk
- 5ounces Parmesan, grated (1¼ cups)
- 2teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 1teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- ¼teaspoon black pepper, more as needed
- 2large eggs
- ⅓cup brandy
- ⅓cup golden raisins
- 1½cups plain dried bread crumbs or panko
- 3ounces fontina cheese, coarsely grated
- 3ounces fresh mozzarella, coarsely grated
- Grapeseed or safflower oil, for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (22 servings)
305 calories; 18 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 26 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 9 grams protein; 267 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add shallots and cook with a pinch of salt until softened, 7 to 10 minutes.
Step
2
Stir in broth and 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Add rice and reduce heat to medium; simmer rice until it is al dente, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking liquid (there won’t be much liquid left). Transfer rice to a bowl.
Step
3
Rinse out the pot and return it to medium heat. Stir in the butter and cook until foaming; whisk in 2 tablespoons flour. Cook, whisking frequently, until mixture is golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes.
Step
4
Whisk in the reserved rice cooking liquid and the milk, a little at a time, until fully incorporated, then whisk in Parmesan. Season with thyme, lemon zest, 1 teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
Step
5
Fold the milk mixture in with the rice; taste and add more salt if needed. Let cool completely, then mix in the eggs. If you’re not frying the rice immediately, cover the pan and refrigerate until needed, up to 24 hours.
Step
6
Warm the brandy in a small pot or microwave; stir in the raisins and soak 20 minutes. Drain.
Step
7
Place remaining 4 tablespoons flour (¼ cup) in a small bowl; slowly whisk in ½ cup water until a smooth slurry forms. Place bread crumbs in a separate bowl. In another bowl, mix together the fontina and mozzarella.
Step
8
Scoop ¼ cup of the rice mixture into your hands and form into a flat disk. Place several raisins and heaping teaspoon of cheese into the center of each patty. Mold the rice around the filling to fully enclose it and roll between your palms to form a ball (try not to get any cheese on the exterior of the ball). Dip the ball in the slurry, then into the panko mixture, rolling it around to make sure it is well coated. Transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. (You can refrigerate the balls for up to 4 hours if you don’t want to cook them immediately.)
Step
9
When ready to fry, fill a pot with several inches of grapeseed oil and heat until a drop of water added to the pan sizzles (about 375 degrees on a thermometer). Working in batches, lower a few rice balls into the oil at a time and fry, turning occasionally, until uniformly golden, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate and immediately season with salt. Serve immediately.
Ratings
4
out of 5
79
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Cooking Notes
Melissa Clark
It actually calls for vegetable or chicken broth. So you can use either one.
ellen
Melissa, with all due respect, this recipe, calling for cheese and chicken broth is far from Chanukah worthy.
Robert
Another hit from Melissa, thank you!
We used Casatica di Bufala instead of the Mozzarela Fontina blend. It's an Italian soft cheese made from buffalo milk that becomes stringy and slightly chewy when melted.
We didn't use grapeseed oil as we had plenty of leftover vegetable oil from the previous night.
We skipped the broth and just used water. Chicken broth wouldn't be kosher, and the vegetable broths we found at the store were all too salty.
rebecca
But the point of Hanukkah dishes is frying them...in the oil...which is the point of the holiday...
Benaaron35
Just made a small batch in duck fat. Micheldik. Next time I,ll try schmaltz. What's not to like?
Marj
HERE, Erin, are the cinnamon and sugar:
Simply Organic offers a a trio of organic cinnamons -- Ceylon, Korintje, and Vietnamese-- paired with organic cane sugar. It's now on sale at Vitacost. Or prepare your own mix by whisking 1 Tb. cinnamon with 1/4 C. granulated sugar and storing this in a spice jar.
Making the dusting optional might be prudent since this holiday treat is SO rich in whole milk, cheeses, and eggs and fried in a lot of (symbolic and healthy, but come on!) oil.
Tom
We've been using a low-sodium vegetable stock from Trader Joe's, and it's delicious. I have no idea if it's Kosher, however.
Maggue
Only need 1/2 recipe for 2. Chill before cooking
Brad
I made 16 golf ball sized arancini.Baked at 425 for 23 minutes and broiled for 2.Very tasty.
Jennie
The proportions seemed a bit off to me--I ran out of cheese long before finishing the balls, and I did not overstuff them, as far as I could tell. They were absolutely delicious, though!
Amy S
Here’s a hint to putting them together. Take a small amount of rice flatten it, put in the raisins and cheese, then take a similar size amount of rice and put it on top and create the ball. Keeps all the cheese and raisins inside. Fried in peanut oil. Will reheat tomorrow night on a rack and expect they will be just as good as they are tonight.
Dana
What a total withering disaster. You guys make it sound so easy. After making all the preparations my rice ended up being way too moist. Couldn’t hold it in the palm of my hand let alone form it into a ball with brandy raisins and cheese mixture. Added bread crumbs to try to resurrect but by this time I was a red-wine induced jabbering mess. Hubby took over with his patience and his fortitude to try to resurrect the family meal. Sons ended up making frozen meat pies and chips. Quel joke.
The Canary Cook
Linda Levitt,Once you fried them after you froze them how were they?Did you thaw them out first?
Linda Levitt
A total hit. Time consuming but so worth the effort. Forgot the eggs but didn’t matter. I froze extras.
Linda Levitt
Everyone, 8 of us loved these delectable arancini. They were not at all greasy. I forgot to put the eggs in, but I think that made no difference at all. I made them ahead of time and reheated in oven at 350 for about 15 minutes. They were crispy and delicious. Well worth the effort. Froze extra balls and I’m sure they’ll be just as wonderful out of the freezer and unto the oven.
Arcie
This is an awesome recipe. For those who doubt the presence of raisins in a savory Italian morsel such as rice balls, it is a tradition of many Italians to add raisins in their meatballs as well.
Scott
I used leftover risotto, so didn't follow the recipe exactly. In my case, the risotto was very sticky and difficult to handle. Next time I think I'll make it according to the recipe. The arancini were very delicious, I really liked the addition of the raisins to add just a little bit of sweetness.
bluetomatoes
We found broiling and then a quick dip in oil worked well. Alternatively, just broiling and brushing with oil.
Very hard to get the cheese into the patty.
Needed more coating (flour and water) than specified in this recipe. Needed 2x.
Tried 3" diameter balls. 1" balls cooked better.
Took 2 hours to make - not sure why - doesn't appear that hard.
ellen
Melissa, with all due respect, this recipe, calling for cheese and chicken broth is far from Chanukah worthy.
Melissa Clark
It actually calls for vegetable or chicken broth. So you can use either one.
Robert
Another hit from Melissa, thank you!
We used Casatica di Bufala instead of the Mozzarela Fontina blend. It's an Italian soft cheese made from buffalo milk that becomes stringy and slightly chewy when melted.
We didn't use grapeseed oil as we had plenty of leftover vegetable oil from the previous night.
We skipped the broth and just used water. Chicken broth wouldn't be kosher, and the vegetable broths we found at the store were all too salty.
Tom
We've been using a low-sodium vegetable stock from Trader Joe's, and it's delicious. I have no idea if it's Kosher, however.
mj
Made last night and they were excellent. A great Hannukah alternative to latkes.
Erin
These sound great, but where is the cinnamon and sugar? That sounded like the best part of the original recipe. Any chance you could link the original recipe. The book seems to be very hard to find.
Marj
HERE, Erin, are the cinnamon and sugar:
Simply Organic offers a a trio of organic cinnamons -- Ceylon, Korintje, and Vietnamese-- paired with organic cane sugar. It's now on sale at Vitacost. Or prepare your own mix by whisking 1 Tb. cinnamon with 1/4 C. granulated sugar and storing this in a spice jar.
Making the dusting optional might be prudent since this holiday treat is SO rich in whole milk, cheeses, and eggs and fried in a lot of (symbolic and healthy, but come on!) oil.
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