Risotto Balls

I rarely make appetizers before dinner, unless I make something that requires a fair amount of prep work or that has a long cook time. This week I made a simple lemon risotto for dinner and ended up with plenty of leftovers, by plenty I mean around 2 cups of the cooked risotto. I had tried some fried rice balls, or better known as Arancini at a couple Italian restaurants, and decided to give these little fritters a shot.

There really is no science to make these. I decided to take my leftovers out about 20 minutes before cooking them, just to make sure that the rice was cold in the center after frying. Other than that all there is to it is: Take about 1 tbsp of the rice and making a little ball out of it. Dunk it into milk (or an egg wash) and then coat in bread crumbs. Fry until golden brown.

I used my basic Risotto recipe, as seen here. But the only thing I did differently was use 1 lemon, instead of 2 and I omitted the vegetables. You can definitely add peas, or other small cut veggies into the risotto as long as it stays relatively "bite-sized". Once fried, let them cool for a minute and grate some fresh cheese on top, eat immediately!