Hidden Leftovers: Arincini

ast night, as we do on most Tuesday nights, we had a largish group over for dinner and prayer. Each of us brings a dish to share, and since I had some portobello mushrooms I wanted to use up and some fresh rosemary looking a bit limp, not to mention that last bit of a block of asiago cheese, and I’d just made some good bone broth and had a bit of that left in the fridge. In short, it was leftovers to begin with.

Yes. My kind of food.

Now, to make arancini, you have to have leftover risotto, and in order to have leftover risotto, you have to make it in the first place, so here is how it was done:

An onion and a tablespoon of freshly chopped rosemary was sauteed with the mushrooms in a little olive oil until both were tender. Once that good work was accomplished, a cup of arborio rice was added and left to sweat for a minute or five. To this cup after cup of good, hot bone broth was swirled in (I think I got four cups total in, by the time I was done). Once the rice was tender and gave in and became a creamier version of itself, the heat was turned off, two tablespoons fresh butter dropped in, along with a quarter cup of that asiago cheese mentioned earlier, freshly grated, of course, and a lid applied and the whole operation forgotten about for a good fifteen minutes, when, at long last, the lid was removed, the contents stirred, and all the oohhs and ahhs were sounded as the smell wafted around the small kitchen. Oh. Yes. And it was salted and peppered at some point along the way.

I’d made a big batch intentionally, so that as soon as all had had their fill (And then some, in some cases–Yes, I’m looking at you. You know who you are.), the contents of the pan were quickly scooped into a bowl and set in the fridge to wait to see what it was to become. And that is this:

I began with a good two and a half cups of leftover risotto, and to that I added one egg and one half cup grated mozzarella. (You could and should add peas, but then the Farmer wouldn’t eat it, so what is the point of that?) This is all stirred together and rolled into balls–the size of which is up to you. The newly-formed balls are then dropped into a bowl of crushed croutons or bread crumbs and tossed about until well coated. They are then placed on a lined cookie sheet as they wait for the rest to become something new. Once all have had similar treatment, the tray is placed in the freezer for a minimum of three hours. The now-frozen balls are placed in freezer bags until ready for use. My batch made a dozen medium-sized arancini.

When you are ready to cook these, remove them from the freezer and either deep fry (I never do this), or air fry at four hundred degrees until brown and sizzling–the time this takes depends on the size you made. For me, it’s about ten minutes. These are best served piping hot with a side of homemade sauce–either alfredo-type or red (or both together works well, too).

The Farmer absolutely loves these–and he has no idea he’s eating a left over. It helps that they’re frozen, though. It puts a little time between the risotto and arancini. Enjoy!