Arancini with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella
Arancini with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Mozzarella
Author: The Blue Jean Chef, Meredith Laurence
Serves: 6
From Air Fry Everything! by Meredith Laurence This is super easy to do if you have leftover risotto. Otherwise, you’ll have the step of cooking the Arborio rice before you can make the Arancini, but you can do that step ahead of time as well making last minute prep a breeze.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ small onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup Arborio rice
- ¼ cup white wine or dry vermouth
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
- 1½ cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- ⅓ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 2 to 3 ounces Mozzarella cheese
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- ¼ cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
- 1½ cups Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
- olive oil
- marinara sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Start by cooking the Arborio rice.
- Stovetop Method: Pre-heat a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the olive oil and sauté the onion until it starts to become tender – about 5 minutes. Add the rice and stir well to coat all the grains of rice. Add the white wine or vermouth. Let this simmer and get absorbed by the rice. Then add the stock and water, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Pressure-Cooker Method: Pre-heat the pressure cooker using the BROWN setting. Add the oil and cook the onion for a few minutes. Add the rice, wine, stock, water, salt and freshly ground black pepper, give everything one good stir and lock the lid in place. Pressure cook on HIGH for 7 minutes. Reduce the pressure with the QUICK-RELEASE method and carefully remove the lid.
- Taste the rice to make sure it is tender. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Spread the rice out onto a baking sheet to cool.
- While the rice is cooling, cut the Mozzarella into ¾-inch cubes.
- Once the rice has cooled, combine the rice with the eggs, sun-dried tomatoes and ½ cup of the breadcrumbs. Place the remaining breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Shape the rice mixture into 12 balls. Press a hole in the rice ball with your finger and push one or two cubes of Mozzarella cheese into the hole. Mold the rice back into a ball, enclosing the cheese. Roll the finished rice balls in the breadcrumbs and place them on a baking sheet while you make the remaining rice balls. Spray or brush the rice balls with olive oil.
- Pre-heat the air fryer to 380ºF.
- Cook six Arancini at a time. Air-fry for 10 minutes. Gently turn the Arancini over, brush or spray with oil again and air-fry for another 5 minutes.
- While the Arancini cook, warm the marinara in a saucepan on the stovetop. Serve the Arancini warm, with the marinara pooled on the bottom of the plate, spooned over the top, or on the side to dip into.
