The cheese arancini are a true delicacy! They are not complicated to prepare and are a Sicilian specialty made with rice in ragù, but in my version, I decided to mix the rice with various cheeses to create an even faster recipe. They are really delicious! Here’s the recipe and step-by-step photos. The ideal thing is to enjoy the arancini just fried, hot and stringy, and serve them as an Appetizer along with Sicilian rotisserie.
If you’re looking for other fried recipes, check these out:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
- Energy 164.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 21.98 (g) of which sugars 0.23 (g)
- Proteins 5.85 (g)
- Fat 5.64 (g) of which saturated 3.08 (g)of which unsaturated 1.84 (g)
- Fibers 0.44 (g)
- Sodium 103.99 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 50 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups Vialone Nano rice
- 1 qt vegetable broth
- 3 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese
- 3 1/2 oz provola cheese
- 2 eggs
- as needed breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsps butter
- 1 packet saffron
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- as needed saffron
How to make cheese arancini
Toast the rice in a pan.
Add the broth as needed whenever it dries up.
At the end of cooking, add the saffron dissolved in a little broth, then add the butter, Parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and pepper, and mix.
At this point, let it cool in a large baking dish.
After the cooling time, divide the rice into about 12 portions, take one, flatten it slightly with hands slightly moistened with water, giving it the shape of an arancino, and fill the central part with cheese.
Then close well and bread the arancini by passing them first in beaten egg and then in breadcrumbs.
Heat the oil and then dip your rice arancini, remove them when they are nicely golden.
Drain them on kitchen paper and season with a pinch of salt.
Storage and Tips
Arancini can be stored in the refrigerator for about 2 days. If preferred, you can prepare the rice in advance and let it cool in the refrigerator overnight.
You can freeze them raw after breading and bake them in the oven directly from frozen.
