• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

CASA Veneracion: Online Cooking Class

Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Midnight Snack.

  • About
  • Cooking Class
  • Recipe Index
  • Search
  • Learn to Cook in 10 Weeks
    • How to Cook, Lesson 1: Know Your Ingredients
  • Recipes By Type
    • Appetizers & Snacks
    • Bread & Breakfast
    • Superb Soups
    • Chicken, Duck & Turkey
    • Fish & Seafood
    • Meatless
    • Mighty Meaty
    • Noodles
    • Rice & Grains
    • Sandwiches & Wraps
    • Side Dishes
    • Sweets & Desserts
    • Drinks
You are here: Home / Appetizers & Snacks / Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

09/15/2017 //  by Connie Veneracion

115shares

When Giada de Laurentiis made arancini on one of her TV shows, she rolled the rice balls in flour, dipped them in beaten eggs then rolled them in fine bread crumbs before frying. My arancini-style cheese-stuffed rice balls were executed a little differently.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Chopped chorizo and beaten eggs were mixed into the rice. The cheese-stuffed rice balls were rolled directly in panko (Japanese bread crumbs) then fried.

Why omit rolling them in flour and coating them with beaten eggs? Because the rice balls were sticky enough to allow the bread crumbs to adhere to them quite well.

After frying, the panko coating created a crisp crust while the cheese at the center of each rice ball turned soft and gooey. Quite delightful especially with the added flavor from the salty and spicy chorizo.

MY LATEST VIDEOS
MY LATEST VIDEOS
Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Making arancini starts with rice—arborio is traditional but I used Japanese rice which has the same sticky quality. I placed the rice in a mixing bowl, added the chopped chorizo, eggs and lots of grated Parmesan.

About the chorizo… I used dried—the kind that you can eat right away. You may use fresh but you’ll have to discard the casing and fry the sausage meat in its own fat before adding it to the rice. These rice balls cook in a short time—too short to cook any raw meat in them.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

After mixing, I took a tablespoonful of the rice mixture. and stuffed a cube of cheese at the center. What kind of cheese? Mozzarella is traditional but we had very little left. Instead of having some of the rice balls stuffed with mozzarella and the others with some other kind of cheese, I decided to go with the cheese that we had enough of to stuff fifteen or so balls. I used Swiss cheese.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

With the cheese cube embedded in the rice mixture, I made a rice ball. And I repeated the procedure until I had used up all the rice mixture.

A tip to make uniformly-sized rice balls: Use a small ice cream scoop. I would have but I couldn’t locate the darn thing. After checking all the drawers in the kitchen, I gave up and just used a measuring spoon.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

I placed the cheese-stuffed rice balls in a covered container and chilled them for 30 minutes. Chilling makes the rice balls firmer and lessens the chances of breaking apart during frying.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

The chilled rice balls were then rolled in panko before going into a pan of hot oil.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

I fried the arancini-style cheese-stuffed rice balls in batches to make sure that the pan was not overcrowded.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Four to five minutes of frying and I had golden rice balls with crispy coating.

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

And, inside… Well, that’s what happens when you bite into the fried rice ball. The softened cheese turns soft and stringy. Crispy outside, cheesy-creamy inside and with all the wonderful flavors of chorizo, what’s not to love?

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Arancini-style Cheese-stuffed Rice Balls

Print Pin
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups day-old rice (use arborio, Japanese or other medium-grain rice)
  • 100 grams Spanish chorizo (or use salami)
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
  • 2 whole eggs
  • salt optional, only if the chorizo is not too salty
  • pepper optional, only if the chorizo is not too spicy
  • 100 to 150 grams cheese (any variety that melts well), cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 3 to 4 cups cooking oil for frying
  • 1 cup panko
  • tomato sauce for dipping

Instructions

  • In a mixing bowl, mix the rice, chopped chorizo, Parmesan, eggs and, optionally, salt and pepper. 
  • Scoop some of the rice mixture using a measuring spoon or small ice cream scoop. Place a cheese cube at the center. Gather to form a ball making sure that no part of the cheese is exposed. Repeat until all the rice mixture has been used.
  • Place the rice balls in container in a single layer. Cover the container and chill the rice balls for at least 30 minutes.
  • Start heating the oil in a wok or frying pan.
  • Take the rice balls out of the fridge and roll each one in panko.
  • When the oil has reached a temperature of 350F, fry the rice balls in batches. Turn then around occasionally for even frying. When the crust is a golden brown, scoop out and move to a plate lined with paper towels.
  • Serve the arancini-style cheese-stuffed rice balls with tomato sauce on the side for dipping.
My arancini recipe: day-old rice is mixed with chopped chorizo, egg and Parmesan, rolled and stuffed with cheese, dredged in bread crumbs and fried.
115shares
Appetizers & Snacks Rice & GrainsCheese Mediterranean

More Like This

Caponata (Sicilian eggpant salad) recipe

Caponata

Start by slowly sauteeing onion, garlic, tomatoes and a sprig of rosemary to heighten the flavor of tomato soup. Add chopped tomatoes, broth and simmer away!

Tomato Soup With Herbed Croutons

Fried potatoes, French fries style, are topped with chopped tomato, onion, olives and cheese. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over your Greek-inspired fries and sprinkle with chopped fresh rosemary before serving.

Greek-inspired Fries

Egg salad sandwich filling made with chopped boiled eggs, crispy bacon, cream cheese, cheddar, Parmesan, Japanese mayo and scallions.

Egg Salad Sandwich. With Bacon. And Three Cheeses.

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs With Crispy Bacon and Sweet Corn

Cheesy Scrambled Eggs With Crispy Bacon and Sweet Corn

Baked eggs with ham, greens and cheese

Baked Eggs With Ham, Greens and Cheese

In the pan where you have seared the beef, make a roux and make sure to scrape all the browned bits at the bottom of the pan. That is your delicious base for the cheese gravy that you will drizzle over your seared beef.

Cheese Gravy Over Seared Beef Strips

Cheese-and-herb Pull-apart Bread

Cheese-and-herb Pull-apart Bread

This baked mac and cheese dish derives its flavors, textures and bits of colors from chopped bacon, onions, bell peppers and carrots. After everything is mixed together, the mac and cheese is spooned into ramekins, sprinkled with more shredded cheese and, for a surprising crunch, bread crumbs.

Fully-loaded Mac and Cheese

The keys to making a delicious cream cheese and cucumber dip are 1) squeeze out the water from and the shredded cucumber and 2) add lime or lemon juice to the mixture to create a complex balance of salty, sweet and tangy. Cayenne is optional but it does wonders.

Cream Cheese and Cucumber Dip

Spread a simplified pesto on the bread, pile on grated Pepper Jack Cheese, pop into a hot oven for three to four minutes and, presto! Serve Pepper Jack cheese toast with coffee for a bright way to start your day.

Pepper Jack Cheese Breakfast Toast

Perk up the flavor of plain rice by adding herbs and spices. For an Italian touch, stir in chopped basil, sage, garlic, and little salt and pepper. If you have cold day-old rice, cook it Chinese style but using olive oil. Basil, sage and garlic rice is aromatic, pretty and delicious.

Basil, Sage and Garlic Rice

Previous Post: «Stromboli Stromboli
Next Post: Lemon Lime Butter Chicken Lemon Lime Butter Chicken»

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

~ Recipes ~

  • Appetizers & Snacks
  • Superb Soups
  • Bread & Breakfast
  • Chicken, Duck & Turkey
  • Fish & Seafood
  • Mighty Meaty
  • Noodles
  • Rice & Grains
  • Sandwiches & Wraps
  • Side Dishes
  • Sweets & Desserts
  • Drinks
  • Meatless
  • Ovo-Vegetarian
  • Lacto-Vegetarian
  • Ovo-lacto Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Keto (Low Carb)

~ Popular Today ~

  • Sinigang na manok (chicken and vegetables soup with tamarind extract) Sinigang na manok (chicken and vegetables soup with tamarind extract)
  • A Guide To Ramen Broth: Shio, Shoyu, Miso and Tonkotsu A Guide To Ramen Broth: Shio, Shoyu, Miso and Tonkotsu
  • What's the difference between sea salt and rock salt? What’s the difference between sea salt and rock salt?
  • How to make: Tsokolateng tablea (Filipino hot chocolate drink) How to make: Tsokolateng tablea (Filipino hot chocolate drink)
  • Korean beef stew a la House of Kimchi: Deconstructed recipe from the Korean beef stew of the House of Kimchi (now defunct). Stewing beef is slow cooked with beef bones, seasonings and spices. Spicy Korean Beef Stew a la House of Kimchi

Footer

Hello There!

I'm Connie Veneracion: cook, crafts enthusiast, researcher, reviewer, story teller and occasional geek.

Read more about me, the cooks and the name of the blog. If you're wondering why commenting is off by default, read this.

I am on Pinterest, Youtube, Facebook and Instagram.

Not So Fine Print

Privacy & TOS ♥ Disclaimer ♥ Get In Touch (I don’t accept guest posts, I don’t give free links and I don’t do link exchanges. Exclude me from your round-ups too. Thank you.)

Except for public domain videos, stock images and screen grabs, all images and text © Connie, Speedy, Sam & Alex Veneracion. That means do not reproduce content without written permission from the blog owner.

Copyright © 2019 CASA Veneracion · ALL RIGHTS RESERVED · Powered by Apple, Canon, coffee & ramen.