Leftover Makeover: Baked Arancini

Got leftover risotto?  Perhaps from my last post?  🙂  It’s just never as good re-heated.  Sad fact. So here’s what to do with your leftovers. 
 
Arancini are one of those decadently amazing foods that I had to indulge in every now and then in my pre-vegan days.  Sadly, it’s pretty much impossible to find vegan arancini.
 
So I have to make my own.  I’m ok with that.
 
If you have not had arancini before, here’s the deal: leftover risotto.  Rolled into a ball.  Cheese in the middle.  Deep fried.
 
Yup.
 
Sooooo let’s not waste any time on this one.  Recipe!
 
serves 4
2 C leftover risotto
1/2 C vegan mozzarella (you need a kind you can cut into cubes)
2 T regular bread crumbs
2 T panko bread crumbs
tomato sauce for dipping
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
 
 
First you can test if the consistency of your risotto allows you to roll it into a ball.  If it does, you’ve saved one step!  If not, here’s my super-inauthentic cheater method that avoids adding eggs (the traditional method): puree about 1/3 of your risotto and mix it with the not-pureed part.   Works great!
Take a spoonful of risotto and form it into a ball.  You can make them any size you want – they’re traditionally finger food, and when you bake the risotto it firms up so you can pick them up.  But I had them in a restaurant once where you needed a fork and knife, and for some reason I just love them that way.  
So take your risotto-ball, poke a hole in the middle of the ball and put one of your cheese cubes inside.  Seal the ball back up.  Roll in bread crumbs and place on a cooking-sprayed baking sheet.
 
 
Bake for about 30 minutes, until warmed through and golden and crispy!
 
 
Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 340; Calories from Fat: 75; Total Fat: 8.3g; Saturated Fat: 1.5g; Sodium: 922mg; Total Carbohydrates: 49.7g; Dietary Fiber: 3.8g; Sugars: 2.7g; Protein: 11.0g

Posted

in

,

by

Comments

One response to “Leftover Makeover: Baked Arancini”

  1. James Welford Avatar

    Great recipe! We'll try this one tonight with our leftover mushroom risotto 🙂

Leave a Reply