Mini Arancini Balls - Entertaining with Nico

[KerrynN]

I took these to a girlfriend's birthday party yesterday. They were very well received. I followed the recipe as per the book, with two exceptions. First, I didn't add the saffron as I didn't have any of the real stuff and didn't want to use imitation, and secondly, I didn't use nearly as much as 100g of mozzarella.

The instructions say to cut the mozzarella into 1/2 cm cubes, and I didn't do this very well. I made my cubes much too small so had *lots* left over, I ended up using two or three as I realised how much was going to be left. I could tell the difference between those with not much mozzarella and those that had closer to the correct amount. I think if I had cut it up with the idea that I needed 50 pieces I would have been more successful than focusing on the correct size.

I did have to make additional bread crumbs as 5 slices catered for only about 40 balls (but this could be because I used sandwich sliced bread - perhaps 5 slices of thicker toast sliced would have been enough?). In all I used about 6 slices worth. Also, I needed to add another beaten egg, but again my eggs were from a 550g carton so were probably smaller than the ones expected by the recipe.

The mixture made exactly 50, as it said it should which was great (except that there wasn't a spare tasting one).

I suspect that they would normally be cooked in a deep fryer to retain their ball shape, as mine ended up with lots of flat sides from the frying pan. They still looked great though.

Overall, I would give this recipe a 5/5. It takes a bit of time to put them together and is certainly a messy process, but worth it in the end.

[Lellyj]

thanks for this review, Karen!  Very timely as I am just going to make the risotto for these to serve at my birthday party tomorrow! Just wondering Did you reheat them when you were there? Or cook them just before you went?

[KerrynN]

I had only cooked them at about 3pm but we did reheat them when we got there as they weren't served until quite a bit later. Popped them in the preheated oven (about 180) crammed together on a tray for about 15-20 minutes. They were quite hot when they came out!

It is pretty messy to do and time consuming so if you can do them before hand and then reheat I would recommend that - unless of course you have a designated cook just waiting to cook and serve!

[Lellyj]

Well Kerryn was right--these are time consuming to make but they were a hit and I felt very proud of the finished result. I also made about 50.  I made the risotto the day before and rolled and fried the arancini in the afternoon.  I did reheat them and they went cripsy again.  I rarely deep fry but found these didn't taste greasy at all.  I used rice crumbs (purchased--couldn't get any gf bread to make my own crumbs) and didn't dip the balls in flour to make them gluten free.  I used tmx chicken stock paste (about a tablespoon, I think!) and water for the stock and saffron threads as I didn't have any powdered saffron.  Very pleased!  Will definitely make again when I have time to "potter."

The first photo shows the rice balls before crumbing
The second shows some crumbed
and the third shows the arancini being fried.  I didn't take photos of the finished product, they were gobbled down very quickly!

NB I found the rice crumbs browned very quickly so some of the finished rice balls look a little more than "golden", but they tasted fine.

[judydawn]

How did you reheat them Lelly?

[Lellyj]

Just in a preheated oven, for about maybe 10 minutes.

[judydawn]

Worth the trouble then if reheating is so easy, thanks Lelly and glad your guests enjoyed the food.  Forgot to wish you a happy birthday too, sorry about that.  Was it yesterday?

[fundj&e]

i love making  arancini and love eating them even more

would the size be  like  50 cent piece ?

happy birthday for yesterday Lelly 

[KerrynN]

I think that mine were about the 50 cent piece size. My DH says they were smaller than a golf ball or a ping pong ball, if that helps.

Also should say that we had some of the left overs a few days later, heated up for about 15 minutes and they were still delicious! I think I will make them in a bigger size as an accompaniment to a main meal.

[cecilia]

A friend made these for a party at our place - they were beautiful!  She brought them made and reheated them in our oven - no trouble at our end, although reading through this discussion I appreciate all the effort she made all the more.  Guests wolfed them down - I had two and my friend only got one in the nick of time as they were fast disappearing.  Try them - you won't be disappointed.

[Lellyj]

Yes they are delicious Cecilia. 

Uni I think mine may have  been a little smaller than 50c . . . maybe 20c?!  I made them big enough to easily encase the cheese.

Thanks Uni and Judy for birthday wishes, my husband is overseas at the moment so I had myself a little party!  Clancy (TMX) helped make the arancini, Nico's sweet potato frittata which Judydawn has reviewed, potato pizza, hummous and cooked the chicken for rice paper rolls!  THEN when people arrived he made bellinis and mango daiquiris!!  It was a lovely little party for myself and 9 of my girlfriends.  I really enjoyed pottering around making the food during the day and my friends enjoyed eating it!

[judydawn]

Nice little hen's party Lellyj, good on you for the effort you went to and so glad you enjoyed it in spite of all the work you did.

[Tasty]

I made this last night to take to some guests today. I have to agree with the others, they can be quite fiddly and time conuming to make so I only ended up making half a batch and left the others to some other time. I'm not quite sure how to describe the flavour but it was kinda too strong in one area and I felt it needed the freshness of lemon to even it out.

After reading through this thread, I realised I probably put too much chicken stock paste (3 tablespoons). Initally, I thought it would boost the flavour but maybe I got a bit carried away and actually ruined them a bit.

Nevertheless, they didn't taste too bad when reheated today.

[JulieO]

They look good Tasty.  What a shame they are fiddly to make.  It's something I've never made. 

[Lellyj]

Sorry to hear you had mixed success wi this Tasty. As Julie said, they look Fab. I hope I didn't type the recipe wrong for you . I find them diddly, but worth it. If you use leftover risotto, or make the risotto the day before, I find it not so daunting.