food
Pumpkin Risotto Balls
Pumpkin Risotto Balls. Rice doesn't get much cuter than these bite-sized nuggets!
food
Pumpkin Risotto Balls
Pumpkin Risotto Balls. Rice doesn't get much cuter than these bite-sized nuggets!
Supplies
- 600 millilitres vegetable stock
- 200 grams pumpkin, coarsely grated
- 250 grams arborio rice
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 50 grams parmesan, finely grated
- 100 grams Cheetos
- 1 egg
- 100 grams plain flour
- 100 millilitres water
- 200 grams mozzarella, made into 10 x 1.5 centimetre cubes and the rest coarsely grated
- 2 litres vegetable oil for deep frying
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 12 small sage leaves, to decorate
Steps
- Put the vegetable stock, pumpkin, rice and salt into a large saute pan and bring to a simmer. Cook down, stirring often, until the rice is cooked and sticky and the liquid has dissolved - around 25 minutes. Stir in the parmesan, then tip onto a shallow tray and leave to cool for 20 minutes before chilling for one hour.
- Blitz the Cheetos to a fine crumb then put into a shallow dish. Beat the egg, then add the flour gradually and finally the water until you have a smooth, thick paste.
- Bring the chilled rice out of the fridge. Stir through the grated mozzarella, and divide into 10 mounds. With slightly damp hands, take one mound and shape it into a ball. Push a square of mozzarella into the middle and close up the hole. Squeeze it into a firm ball then rest, while you shape the remaining arancini.
- Prepare a clean tray. Dip the arancini first into the flour batter, then into the breadcrumbs. Turn it over so it’s completely covered, and then put it onto a clean tray. Repeat with the rest. Chill for 20 minutes while you heat a large saucepan half full with vegetable oil.
- When the oil reaches 180C, gently lower 2 or 3 arancini in. Cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper while you cook the rest.
- Pipe very thin drizzles of mayonnaise across the top of the arancini to look like the pattern on a pumpkin. Wrap a sage leaf around a cocktail stick to roll it into a thin tube. Make a hole in the top of the arancini to hold the sage ‘stalk’ and insert it into the top. Serve immediately.