Arancini is Italian street food and consists of breaded, balled risotto that is fried to perfection. I'm a sucker for anything fried and this is no exception! I mixed it up a little bit and added some extra cheese and seasoning to the risotto that is then wrapped around a chunk of Genova tuna fish before it's panned fried. Everyone loves these things, I've made a bunch of them and shared them with friends and co-workers. This recipe is tested and true. You're going to need parchment paper on hand to pour the risotto on after it's done. 20-30 arancini, depending on the size you form.
Tonno alla Arancini
- 1 can of Genova Tonno tuna
- 1½ cups arborio rice
- 6 cups chicken stock
- ½ cup white wine
- 1 medium shallot or ½ small onion, chopped (about ½ cup)
- 2 cloves of Garlic (finely minced)
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup grated Mozzarella cheese
- 1 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
- ¾ cup bread crumbs
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 1 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan
If you haven't made risotto before you'll realize the process is a little involved. It's high maintenance, but worth it in the end. Seriously, you'll see.
Risotto
- Pour the chicken stock into a saucepan and place on low heat. This needs to be hot when added to the rice.
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large pot then sauté the shallot and garlic. Approximately 2 minutes till clear.
- Pour the arborio rice in the pot and stir briskly for about 1 minute. Do not brown the rice.
- Add the wine and stir till reduced, you'll smell it and it'll smell good.
- Start adding the stock to the pot a ladleful at a time. Constantly stir the rice and stock until the stock has been absorbed into the rice. Keep doing this until the stock is gone, the starch and mixing will create a nice creamy texture to the risotto.
- When al dente remove risotto from heat.
- Add cheese and mix in thoroughly.
- Pour risotto onto parchment paper and spread out as a thin a layer.
- Let cool.
- When cool, measure out squares of risotto, approximately 20-30.
- Make sure the risotto easily separates from the parchment, if not, use a oiled spatula to separate from the risotto from the paper before adding the tuna.
- Place a square of risotto in our palm with a piece of tuna in the center.
- Fold the corners over the tuna and ball into your palm, roll till round.
- Complete process till all the risotto or tuna is gone.
- Rolled risotto balls into bread crumbs till lightly coated.
- Heat frying pan with oil on medium heat and brown arancini, place on paper towels to remove excess oil.
- Serve and enjoy!
Go back to Genova Tonno!