Arancini (meaning little oranges because of the colour) are typically made from leftover risotto. If you make too much rice, or the risotto is too soft, turning the rice into arancini is the answer!

For the arancini in this photo, I made a simple onion, garlic and fresh herb risotto, although any kind will do. Just make sure you are using Arborio, sushi, or short grain rice. It sticks together better.

• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped (for colour)
• 2 tbsp fresh basil
• 2 tbsp oregano
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 4 cups water
• salt to taste

Breading

• 1 tbsp nutrional yeast
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup panko bread crums
• oil for frying

Heat a small amount of oil in a deep pot and fry the onions and garlic until brown. Stir in the rice, herbs, carrot, salt and pepper, and cover in water. Turn down the heat and simmer the rice until it is tender, adding more water if necessary.

Remove from heat, and allow to cool to a manageable temperature.

In a medium sized bowl, mix flour, yeast and panko.

Take a spoonful of rice at a time, and roll into a ping pong ball sized ball, and proceed to coat each ball with the breading.

Heat the oil, and lightly fry each ball until golden brown, optionally you can bake these, although they will be a lot dryer.

Serve with fresh tomato sauce.

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.