Until about two weeks ago, I had never heard of arancini, but since then I’ve been exposed to it on two separate occasions. The first was when I stumbled upon a blog and arancini was the featured recipe that day. The second was just the other night while assisting Chef Giuseppe Mazzocchi for his cooking class at Les Gourmettes. Giuseppe is a charming man who is from Tuscany and made the most wonderful risotto (He also pronounces my name “Leyenda”, which I love!). He mentioned to the class that any extra risotto could be used to make arancini… turns out arancini are fried rice balls filled with sauce, mozzarella, and/or peas. The names come from the shape, which resembles an orange. The Italian word for orange is arancia and arancini means “little oranges”.  You can even make a dessert arancini filled with chocolate and use a sweet version of risotto – YUM!

Giuseppe told us that in Tuscany they prefer either Carnaroli or Vialone Nano rice to the Arborio rice that Americans generally use for risotto.  All three are short-grain rice, but the first two produce a creamier risotto and each grain holds its shape better than Arborio. You should be able to find all three at an Italian market or deli, and locally at A.J.’s. Even though each class had 16 students, there was so much risotto left that I was able to make 48 arancini, 44 of which I now have in my freezer! I’m providing you with Giuseppe’s risotto recipe, but any risotto will do. Even some you bring home in a “doggy bag” from a dinner out some evening.  It is imperative to make the arancini with cold risotto, so leftovers are perfect.

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