There’s a party happening and these mushroom red wine arancini balls will be present. My Canadian turned another year older and celebrations were in full swing on the weekend. I had done a little preparation through the week to ensure we had some snacks on hand for hungry revellers, and these Arancini balls went down a real treat. Full of rich, robust flavours of earthy mushrooms and red wine, these Arancini were the perfect accompaniment to some afternoon drinks. Be sure to choose a gutsy red wine to make this risotto like a syrah or a malbec, a pinor noir is often too young, light and fruity.
I started these a few days before, splitting each step out so that it wasn’t all on the day. But they are a beautiful way to use up leftover risotto. Leave the risotto to cool completely before you start rolling the happy little bundles.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 brown onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 tsp porcini powder - optional
- 200gm portobello mushrooms, diced
- 300gm Arborio rice
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 litre stock
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 2 cups breadcrumbs
- 2 litres cooking oil
Instructions
In a pan heat the first measure of butter over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, porcini powder if using, and slowly fry until soft and translucent. Add the portobello mushrooms and continue fry until they are cooked through. Add the arborio and toss until each grain is covered in the buttery juices. Pour in the wine and simmer until the wine is mostly cooked away. Stir the pot a little if the rice is sticking. Then slowly add the stock with a ladle, stirring until each ladelful is absorbed. Then add the next ladle and so on, stirring until the stock is absorbed and the rice is swollen and al dente. You may not need all of the stock, you want the rice cooked but with a little bite in the middle. If you don't have enough stock, top up with water.
Remove from the heat and stir through the second measure of butter and the grated parmesan. At this stage, transfer the risotto to a container and leave until completely cool. If you're making this ahead of time, wait until cool before putting in the fridge.
Then take spoonfuls of the mixture and roll into a little ball. Coat in breadcrumbs and place on a tray. Repeat until you have all the mixture rolled into little breadcrumb coated balls. You want these slightly smaller than a golf ball. Refrigerate for half an hour to slightly set the arancini.
Heat your oil in a deep high sided saucepan until it has a sheen on top. You'll know it's ready when a cube of bread will fry in the oil in 20 seconds. Fry the arancini in batches of 5 or 6 at a time, for 3 minutes or until they are golden and crisp on the outside.
Serve immediately with drinks and good friends.
2 comments
Hi Kirsten,
These sound absolutely delicious. I’d love to try them out but somehow the recipe has disappeared from the site? Cheers 🙂
It should be there now!! Sorry Helene 🙂