As much as I love a good risotto, what I’m really hoping for when I serve one is that people won’t want to finish the whole dish. I wasn’t after a risotto lunch; I wanted to try an idea I’d had in mind for a while. Probably the best thing to do with day (or two) old risotto is to make arancini – breaded, deep-fried rice fritters.

Similar to croquetas, arancini require none of the work or planning of making a thick béchamel: just take cold leftover risotto, form it into small balls, coat the balls with flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs, then fry in oil at 350ºF for a few minutes until deep golden brown. As with anything fried, remember to salt the arancini after taking them out of the oil.

These are good on their own, hot and crisp from the fryer, or you could serve them with anything you like to dip fried food in: marinara, ranch dressing – we ate them with a mixture of mayonnaise and sriracha, which may not sound wonderful but worked at the time. We may have even enjoyed these more than the risotto itself.

2 comments | Arancini, Breaded, Deep Fried, Fried, Italian, Rice, Risotto, Sicilian

This entry was posted by Tom on Monday, November 22nd, 2010 at 7:52 am and is filed under Food + Drink. You can subscribe to responses to this entry via RSS.