Tomato Arancini

Serves 20 Arancini Balls
Preparation Time 10 minutes
Cooking Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Tick off the ingredients as you buy them

  • Rissoto:
  • 700g Val Verde Passata
  • 400ml vegetable stock
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large brown onion, peeled and chopped finely
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 300g Val Verde Risotto Rice
  • 150ml white wine
  • 3 tbsp double cream
  • 50g parmesan cheese, grated
  • Juice of ½ a lemon
  • Generous pinch of salt and black pepper
  • Remaining Arancini ingredients:
  • 100g mozzarella cheese, cut in small cubes
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 100g panko breadcrumbs
  • 120g plain flour, mixed with a pinch of salt and pepper
  • Vegetable oil, for deep frying

1. Combine 700g of passata and the vegetable stock into a small pan. Heat until boiling, then turn off heat.

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2. Heat olive oil in a large pan, add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes until the onion starts to go translucent.

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3. Add in the garlic, stir and cook for a further minute.

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4. Add Val Verde risotto rice and stir until the oil has coated the rice.

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5. Add in the wine and stir. Wait for the wine to almost fully absorb (stirring regularly) and then add the passata sauce a cup at a time. Ensuring each cup has almost fully absorbed before adding the next. Ensure you stir regularly. This should take 15-20 mins.

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6. Once you've used up all the stock, the rice should be soft but still have a bit of a bite to it (it will soften up a little further when you add the cream). If the rice is still hard, add in a ladle of hot water and keep stirring until absorbed. This may take further 5 minutes.

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7. When the rice at desired consistency, add in the cream, parmesan, lemon juice and salt & pepper. Stir and then turn off the heat.

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8. Leave to cool in the pan, then cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes (or up to 2-3 days).

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9. To make the Arancini Balls, put the beaten eggs, breadcrumbs and flour on 3 different large plates.

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10. Take the cold risotto out of the fridge. Put a heaped tbsp. of the rice into your hand. Flatten it out and then place mozzarella in the centre. Wrap the risotto around the cheese and roll into a ball. Repeat until you've used all the mixture.

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11. Fill a large and deep saucepan with the vegetable oil until it's about 1/3 full. There needs to be enough oil to completely cover the Arancini Ball. Heat the oil on high.

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12. Dip each Arancini Ball in turn into the flour, egg and finally the breadcrumbs, shaking off any excess as you go.

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13. Check the heat of the oil by dropping in a few of the panko breadcrumbs. If they immediately rise to the top and bubble vigorously, then the oil is ready. Turn it down to medium-high and carefully place in a maximum of 3 Arancini Balls in the oil.

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14. Cook for 2 minutes until the Arancini is golden brown, then remove from the oil with a spoon and place on a wire rack with kitchen paper underneath to drain. Repeat until all the Arancini Balls are cooked.

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15. Serve with some garden salad on the side and a touch of mayonnaise.

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Tips

Use stock as an alternative to white wine, if desired.