Arancine - Rice balls

I couldn't believe how easy this was to make. Actually, I was reading an article in Saveur magazine on Sicilian foods, and Arancine was a popular appetizer. Arancine is a deep fried rice ball stuffed with meat. In their recipe, the stuffing was a hearty beef stew with carrots and onions. The rice was made with saffron. The key to this, I think, was the batter.

I wanted to make something special last Friday, and I knew I had some leftover rice and leftover stir fry, so I decided on this. The rice I had was regular white rice. The stuffing was actually a stir fry with bell peppers, eggs, and SPAM. You can use whatever stuffing that pleases you. I recommend that the rice you choose should be steamed or boiled rice; don't use fried rice.

Ingredients

Fresh or leftover rice (if fresh, let cool to handle)
Stuffing
1 egg
1/4 cup
water
1 tbsp flour
bread crumbs
oil

Method

1. Whisk egg, flour and water in a small bowl. Put bread crumbs into another bowl and set aside.

2. Wet hands before working with rice. Take a scoop of rice into your palm and work it into a disk, about 3 inches in diameter. Take a small spoonful of stuffing and place it in the center of the disk. Bring the sides of the rice disk to the top and form it into a ball by cupping your hands. Work on it until the ball is firm.

3. Coat the rice ball with the batter, and roll the ball in the bread crumbs. Place on a plate, and repeat with the rest of the rice and stuffing. Put the plate of rice balls in the frige to let it firm up before frying, about 20 min.

4. Heat a sauce pan with oil, about 2 inches deep, to 350F. Working in batches, fry the balls until the surface is golden brown. Drain and serve hot.

Enjoy