Prosciutto Arancini {cheese stuffed, fried risotto balls}

Do you know what’s better than creamy, comforting, simple risotto? That same risotto after a chilling trip through the refrigerator, combined with some eggs and more cheese, then formed around yet more cheese, rolled in bread crumbs, and deep fried. Heck yes. THAT is some comfort food. If you’re familiar with arancini, then you remember the dreamy sequence of biting into the crunchy exterior to the creamy, risotto layer. And if you’ve been lucky enough to have stuffed Arancini, you remember hitting that molten core of gooey, melted cheese. Arancini are the reason I deliberately double or treble the amount of risotto we will need for a meal when I make it.

I made an enormous batch of these the other day after quintupling our normal risotto-for-a-meal amount. I wanted to test them to see how well they held up in the freezer. In addition to making a giant batch, I made a change to my usual arancini routine by adding thin strips of prosciutto to the rice mixture. It’s not totally weird to add meat to your arancini, but it’s usually part of the stuffing portion of the programme rather than laced throughout the rice. I was looking for a quick way to add the meaty goodness without complicating the stuffing process.

My experiment was an enormous success on both fronts. My husband and kids were inhaling the Prosciutto Arancini about as quickly as I could fish them from the fryer basket with tongs. I doled out more than one warning about burning the insides of more than one mouth. Nobody cared. The goal, as it appeared to me, was to get as many of those crispy, creamy, prosciutto-laced, melted-cheese-filled bites into their mouths as they possibly could, and that meant beating the other guys to the punch and grabbing the Prosciutto Arancini no matter how HOT they were.

Prosciutto Arancini are the ultimate leftover-makeover: or as my stepmom always said, “Deja Food”. Leftover risotto can appear so stodgy and gluey until it’s given the second life as one of the best-loved foods in our entire house. When I made the prosciutto version, my husband took one bite and said, “Why have we not done this before? These are better than hush puppies.” High praise, indeed, from a boy from a good southern family.

Cook’s Notes

• There’s no getting around it, you need well-chilled, leftover risotto for Prosciutto Arancini. You most definitely cannot make it with fresh risotto… it simply isn’t thick and holdy-togethery (technical term) enough to, er, hold together when you stuff and roll it. Patience, grasshopper. Make that risotto ahead of time and steadfastly refuse to eat it all. You will be rewarded.
• Don’t like Parmesano? You can sub in asiago or Romano, no problemo. Someone should probably tell me to stop-o.
• If mozzarella isn’t your thing, you could sub in cubes of provolone or munster, but don’t go the sharp cheddar route for this one. It just won’t behave the same and give you that lovely stringy center.
• I buy little packages of pre-sliced prosciutto from Aldi that have 8 whisper thin slices of prosciutto. A full package is a perfect amount for a quadruple batch of Prosciutto Arancini. Do NOT look at me like that. I don’t eat them all in one day. We only eat HALF of them in one day and keep the rest in the freezer for last minute entertaining!
• Let’s address breadcrumbs for a moment. In the recipe, I specify putting Italian style breadcrumbs IN the rice mixture then rolling the rice balls in panko style crumbs. This is because I want the bread crumbs in the rice to bind and ‘disappear’ but I want the bread crumbs on the outside to give serious crunch. This is my ideal combo. If you don’t have panko handy and/or don’t feel like using two kinds of breadcrumbs, you can certainly sub in an equal amount of Italian style crumbs for the panko crumbs intended for the outside. I kind of prefer the look of the panko crumb coating, but the Italian style crumb coating is more traditional (pictured below)… Which do you like better?
• Speaking of the crumbs for the outside, I find it’s easiest to roll the rice balls in crumbs that are in small mixing bowl or cake pan. The higher sides keep the little beasties from skittering out across your counter if you’re shimmying the bowl around to help coat them.

Prosciutto Arancini {cheese stuffed, fried risotto balls}

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Rebecca Lindamood

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Ingredients

  

• 2 cups chilled leftover risotto
• 2 to 3 paper thin slices of prosciutto cut into thin ribbon-like strips
• 2 large eggs beaten
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
• 2 ounces of mozzarella or 1/4 of an 8 ounce block, partially frozen, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 cup Panko style bread crumbs If desired, you can substitute an equal amount of Italian style bread crumbs for the Panko.
• peanut vegetable, or canola oil for deep frying

Instructions

 

To Prepare the Prosciutto Arancini:

• Vigorously stir together the leftover risotto, prosciutto strips, eggs, parmesan cheese, and Italian style bread crumbs. Use a medium disher (about 2 tablespoons in capacity) or scoop mounds of 2 tablespoons of the mixture onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Hold one of the mounds of rice in your hand and press one cube of the mozzarella into the center. Form the rice around the cheese to cover it completely, then roll between your hands to form a ball. Set the ball on the cookie sheet and repeat with the remaining rice and cheese cubes. After they have all been rolled, roll them in the Panko crumbs, gently pressing to help the crumbs completely cover the rice ball. Repeat with the remaining rice balls. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour prior to frying.
• If you desire, you may freeze them on the cookie sheet at this point and then transfer the Arancini to a zipper top freezer bag when they are frozen solidly through. You can store up to 3 months in the freezer before frying.

To Fry the Prosciutto Arancini:

• Heat 3 inches of oil to 350°F in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan or a deep fryer. Carefully lower several of the frozen or chilled arancini into the oil, taking care not to crowd the pot. Fry for 3 to 5 minutes, turning if you need to, or until they are deep golden brown to brown and hot all the way through. Use a slotted spoon or fry basket to gently transfer the Prosciutto Arancini to a paper towel lined plate, sprinkle with salt, and let cool for 3 minutes before eating.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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