This week was my pick for Wednesdays with Donna Hay. Not only did I have one pick, I had two. My pick was the Arancini Balls on page 144 of Donna’s modern classics Book 1 but in order to make the balls you had to make the
Lemon and Parmesan Risotto first.
I have discovered that making risotto is actually quite easy. Arborio rice and lots and lots of liquid. Stir constantly. You end up with a tasty treat. In this case, Donna added Parmesan cheese and lemon zest to the mix. It was delicious. Now, take the risotto, let it cool enough to handle it and then wrap it around a small cube of cheese. Donna called for Mozzarella but I forgot to get it so I used sharp cheddar instead. It was a good sub.
Nothing better than melted cheese encased in a ball of Parm-y creamy rice and fried.
Couple of tips: make the balls small so they fry quickly. If they fry too long you end up with hard rice on the outside; make sure you use a cheese that melts easily or you will have just soft cheese inside.
These are definitely on the repeat list when I have left over risotto. And I think the little mozzarella balls would work perfectly with this.
Check with Gaye
and Chaya for their Arancini balls.
You can find the recipes on page 140 and 144 in her book. I left links above for the online recipes I found. Buy the book. Cook with us and join Wednesdays with Donna Hay.
May 15, 2013 at 8:29 AM
Hi Margaret, these were really tasty – both the risotto and the arancini exceeded my expectations. I liked that these arancini did not need bread crumbs – making them super easy.
May 15, 2013 at 2:23 PM
omigosh do those look good!
May 15, 2013 at 3:10 PM
Thanks. They were just oozing with good cheesy melty stuff.
May 22, 2013 at 8:23 PM
Well, I’m behind with these, but I will make them and post them when life gets back to normal around here! Your photo of them makes me want to make them right now…and we don’t eat fried food here as a general rule, but might have to try making a couple of these.