Stuffed Rice Balls, Roman Style

I've been making these a lot lately. I got the original recipe from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano cookbook. In the meantime, I've messed with it (like that's any surprise), and have made several variations of them.

In some Tapas places, these are called Arancini.

Heat your deep fryer to 375F.


1/2 cup dried mushrooms, reconstituted and finely chopped
5 tbs olive oil (I used Zoe for this one, but I'm also fond of Bio Sitia)
5 tbs butter
1 large Vidalia onion, chopped finely
4 ounces crumbled bacon (or if you want to get fancy, prosciutto)
2 cups arborrio rice
2 large eggs
1/2 cup parsely, chopped
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan (or a hard cheese of your choice. I used a well aged Leerdammer today)
1 pound Caciotta al Tartufo, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (this is a Tuscan truffled cheese. You can use mozzarella or provolone - smoked is nice!)


1 canister bread crumbs

In a heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the olive oil and butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the arborrio, stir to coat, then add 4 cups of hot water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook until all the liquid is absorbed.

Turn the rice into a large bowl, allow to cool for about 10 minutes, then add the parsely, mushrooms, cheese and eggs.

Make egg shaped balls of the rice, tucking a cube of cheese inside and closing the rice over the cheese. Roll in bread crumbs, round out...



...and deep fry til browned.