Stir fry the onion with butter at very low heat, the onion should not burn.
⅓ cup butter, 1 onion diced
Once the onion becomes translucent, add the rice and increase the heat. The rice has to toast in the butter so that the grains are sealed.
1 lb Carnaroli rice
You can either add the tomato sauce to the rice or the saffron to the stock
6 cup homemade stock, 1 cup homemade tomato sauce, 1 pkg saffron
Proceed to cook like a risotto. The rice should be continually stirred and stock added regularly 1 or 2 ladles at a time. Cook for 15 minutes.
Once cooked, add the parmesan, some butter and let it cool down at room temperature.
⅓ cup freshly grated Parmesan, 2 tablespoon butter
Preparing the fillings
Boil the peas in salted water for 5 minutes
1 cup peas
Cut the mozzarella into cubes
1 cup mozzarella block
Prepare a ragu (you can find the recipe on the blog) and mix some of the peas
1 cup bolognese sauce
Preparing the Arancini
Mix the rice with 2 eggs add more parmesan
2 fresh eggs, ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
Wet the palm of your hand with some warm water so the rice will not stick
Roll the rice into a flat ball to fit into the palm of your hand.
Place the filling in the middle: 1 teaspoon of ragu or ham and a cube of mozzarella.
1 cup shredded ham
Close the ball, cover with more rice if necessary and shape the arancino.
Use different shapes to recognize different fillings: cone for ragu and round for vegetarian
Coating the Arancini
Put the breadcrumbs into a bowl
1.5 cup breadcrumbs
You can replace the breadcrumbs with grated almonds, grated rice cakes, or sesame seeds
1.5 cup sesame seeds, 1.5 cup grated almonds, 7 rice cakes
Beat 2 eggs
2 fresh eggs
First roll the balls into the beaten eggs, then into bread crumbs
Once all the balls have been coated fry them in hot oil
vegetable oil for frying
Lay on a paper towel to remove the excess oil
Eat them warm or warm them up in the oven just before your party or served them at room temperature.
Video
Notes
If you don't have time to make the risotto, you can cook the rice by adding all the stock at once, and boil the rice for 15 minutes until the stock is completely absorbed. Keep it covered and add hot water if necessary.
Add the butter and the parmesan while the rice is still warm so they melt. The parmesan will help to keep the rice balls together
Make sure the rice is at room temperature when you add the eggs
When you are rolling the rice balls, keep the palm of your hand wet with warm water. It will prevent the rice from sticking to your palms and will make the arancini nice and smooth
Some recipes coat the rice balls with water and flour instead of egg, then breadcrumbs. You can do that if you don't want to add more eggs but not for the gluten-free version
Shape them either in balls, in cones or in ovals to differentiate the type of fillings
Best is to eat them warm just made, but you can also eat them at room temperature or warm them up in the oven