
Spicy nduja arancini
Make these moreish rice balls with spicy nduja sausage, gooey mozzarella filling and crunchy breadcrumb coating for a Valentine’s Day nibble
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1⁄2 onionfinely chopped
- 1 large garlic clovecrushed
- 1⁄2 tsp fennel seedscrushed
- 300g risotto rice
- 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 800ml hot chicken stock
- 80g parmesanfinely grated
- 50g nduja sausagefinely chopped
- 150g mozzarellacut into cubes
- 100g plain flour
- 3 medium eggsbeaten
- 200g panko breadcrumbs
- vegetable oilfor deep- frying
Nutrition: Per serving
- kcal206
- fat8g
- saturates3g
- carbs24g
- sugars1g
- fibre1g
- protein8g
- salt0.6g
Method
step 1
Heat the olive oil in a casserole dish over a low heat, and fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 10-12 mins, or until softened. Add the garlic and fennel seeds, and cook for 1 min more. Stir in the rice and cook for a further minute.
step 2
Pour in the tomatoes and half the stock, and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring continuously, until the stock is almost completely evaporated. Add the remaining stock, a ladle at a time, adding more when the previous addition is absorbed by the rice. Cook until the rice is al dente, about 15-20 mins.
step 3
Stir in the parmesan and nduja, then spread the risotto out over a baking tray and leave to cool to room temperature.
step 4
Scoop the cooled risotto into 20 even portions, slightly larger than a golf ball. Flatten one of the balls into a disc in your hand, put a piece of mozzarella in the centre, then enclose with the rice. Roll into a ball. Repeat with the remaining risotto and mozzarella.
step 5
Tip the flour, eggs and panko breadcrumbs into three separate shallow bowls. Roll each risotto ball in the flour, then the egg, and finally the breadcrumbs. Transfer the balls to a baking tray. Half-fill a large, heavy-based saucepan with vegetable oil and heat over a medium-low heat to 170C, or until a piece of bread turns golden in the oil within 45 seconds. Carefully lower the risotto balls into the oil in batches, and fry each batch for 8-10 mins, or until golden brown and gooey in the centre. Drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.