On the rare occasion that I eat out at an Italian restaurant, I never can resist ordering arancini, a delightfully cheesy fried rice ball. Recently, I was menu planning, and a craving hit. After the craving, the idea of making baked mushroom arancini. I do confess to having a bit of a weakness for fried savories, for arancini are commonly fried. However, I don't enjoy the mess of frying and baking the balls are a healthier alternative. Inspired by the success of my baked brown rice balls, I made up a pot of mushroom risotto and turned that into arancini.
The mushrooms add an addictive earthiness to the creamy balls oozing with cheese. There was a fair amount of prep involved, but the result was more than worth it and you can be sure these won't last long, despite the substantial nature of these savory balls of bliss. Because I wanted to serve them as a side instead of an appetizer for the occasion, I served them up with rich tomato braised gigantes bean dish to serve as a portion of the sauce, instead of simply the traditional marinara sauce. I'll be sharing that recipe soon, but in the meantime, you might want to consider serving them with Gigantes simmered in a garlicky tomato sauce. The meal was a smashing success.
Other baked savory dishes you may enjoy:
Baked Chickpea and Brown Rice Patties
Spicy Chickpea Kofta
Chickpea Paneer Kofta in a Creamy Cashew Tomato Sauce
Baked Paneer and Chickpea Cutlets
On the top of the reading stack: browsing the stacks
Audio Accompaniment: Marsen Jules
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