So you stirred, and stirred, and stirred until you thought your elbow was going to fall off. But then you dipped your spoon into a bowl of your creamy risotto and realized why you put so much effort into making it from scratch. It’s pure comfort in a bowl. It’s like the rice absorbed all your love with each turn of the wrist (and that was a lot of turns).

But you made too much and now you have a tupperware bowl full of not so creamy risotto in your fridge from last night’s scrumptious dinner. What to do? Make Arancini – or Fried Risotto Balls.

Arancini

• Leftover risotto
• 1 cup of panko (japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• veggie oil
• 1 egg
• a splash of milk
• 1/2″ cubes of mozzarella

1. Put the panko and breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl with the oregano and salt and mix. In another shallow bowl, beat the egg and milk together.

2. Heat up the oil in a medium frying pan on medium low heat.

3. Grab a golf ball size mound of risotto. Roll it into a ball. Use your thumb to push an indentation into the risotto. Put a cube of mozzarella into the center and seal it up so the mozzarella is in the center of the risotto ball.

4. Roll the risotto ball in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Set aside on a plate until they are all rolled out.

5. Check to see if your oil is ready by sprinkling a small piece of breadcrumbs in. If it sizzles right away, start putting in your balls. Don’t overcrowd the pan though because you’ll need to flip the balls as soon as they brown on one side.

6. Place the browned morsels of heaven on a paper towel and sprinkle with a bit of salt.

Serve piping hot with your favorite marinara or the leftover braising liquid from the chicken in the previous post. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!