Cheese & Pumpkin Arancini Balls
Ingredients
2 cups of chicken stock (or you can use vegetable if you want it to be vegetarian)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
350g pumpkin, roughly grated
4 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 & 1/2 cups of arborio rice
3/4 cup of mature cheddar cheese, finely grated
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups of breadcrumbs
Sunflower oil, to deep fry
Instructions
Serves: 4
Time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Medium
STEP 1
Add the stock to a saucepan, and heat gently on low heat.
STEP 2
Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, pumpkin & garlic, and cook until softened – approx 8-10 minutes.
STEP 3
Add the rice and stir constantly for 2-3 minutes until the rice starts to turn translucent.
STEP 4
Reduce the heat to low, then add the stock one ladle at a time, stirring constantly until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked (but not stodgy).
STEP 5
Stir through the grated cheese, then leave to completely cool.
STEP 6
Put the flour, egg and breadcrumbs in separate dishes, then roll a ball of the rice mixture in the flour (shake off any excess), followed by the egg and then breadcrumbs.
STEP 7
Heat the sunflower oil in a pan, and fry the arancini balls in batches for approx 4 minutes or until golden brown.
STEP 8
Serve with your favourite dip (we went for a spicy tomato dip, but Salsa Verde or Tomato Salsa also work really well).
