Packed with parmesan and fresh sweet corn, then fried to crispy perfection, these vegetarian arancini bites are so delicious, they need no meat.
If you’re not vegetarian, you’ll love these chorizo arancini as well.
I have to say, photographing so much food every week is helping me to get better and better and the photos I take now are leaps and bounds above the older ones on the blog. I won’t replace all of them as it is nice to look back and see how far I’ve come but some of the older pics just don’t do the food justice. I feel it’s my moral obligation to bring you photos that make you want to lick the screen 🙂
First on the list of screen-lickable updates was my Chorizo Arancini. I posted that recipe waaaaaay back near the start of this blogging journey. I was proud of the photos at the time but as I learnt more, I knew they needed a face-lift. Well I’m pleased to say that at the same time as this Sweet Corn Arancini post goes out, those photos have been updated. So take a look.
Back to the Sweet Corn Arancini though. While I was remaking the Chorizo Arancini for the re-shoot, Queen Efficient here (aka me) decided I may as well stir 2 pots of risotto at once instead of one. So I decided on Sweet Corn as the main flavour, because, well, we had some tins in the pantry and I thought it might taste nice.
It tastes AWESOME! I’m not one to give up meat on any occasion but if I had to, I would order this Sweet Corn Arancini in it’s place and probably not feel like I missed a thing. For such cute little handfuls of food, they are an explosion of flavour. I used a vegetable stock, then added the sweet corn, parmesan, mozzarella and lots of herbs (fresh and dried) and the result is dee-lish-us! And just look at that gooey cheese. Nom, nom, nom. And I really love how arancini work for a meal or for snacks or especially as appetisers when you have friends round.
You can roll them into perfect little balls like my last recipe or make these little cone shapes. They’re easy to shape but I definitely suggest using damp hands to do so as otherwise things can get messy! 🙂
For coating, homemade breadcrumbs are definitely the best option, providing more texture and crunch. They’re simple to make too. If you must use store-bought, use panko instead.
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Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon oil (see notes)
- ¾ cup arborio rice
- ½ medium onion
- ½ clove garlic, crushed
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 2 ½ cups vegetable stock (625ml)
- ½ tablespoon (2 teaspoons) dried oregano (see notes)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 40 g parmesan, finely grated
- 1 tin sweet corn kernels (125g)
- 60 g mozzarella, grated
- 2 tablespoons mixed fresh herbs (I used parsley and oregano) (see notes)
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup breadcrumbs
- ½ cup plain flour
- Vegetable or rice brane oil for deep frying
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Instructions
- Place the stock in a small saucepan and bring to a gentle simmer. Keep the lid on so that it doesn’t evaporate but always keep it warm to add to the rice.
- Add the oil to a frypan and cook onion, garlic & celery over low-medium heat until softened. Try not to let it colour.
- Add the rice to the onion mixture and cook, stirring for about a minute. The rice should look a little glassy. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and oregano and mix through.
- Add a ladleful (about 125ml/1/2 cup) of the simmering stock to the rice mixture and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the rice has absorbed all the stock. Continue to add the stock, 1 ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the stock to be absorbed before adding the next ladleful, for around 15 minutes or until the rice is just tender – but firm, not mushy. It should still have a little bite to it and the risotto should look creamy. If it is still too firm, add a little water at a time, allowing it to absorb before testing again.
- Stir in the parmesan and corn, then transfer it to a cool bowl and refrigerate for 1-2 hours to cool completely. You can use the freezer to cool it more quickly, just keep an eye on it so it doesn’t freeze.
- Once it is totally cool, add the mixed herbs, mozzarella and 1 egg and mix through until well combined.
- Place the breadcrumbs and flour in separate bowls. Whisk the remaining egg in a third bowl. Shape about 3 tablespoons of the risotto mixture into a ball (I found a medium sized ice cream scoop to be perfect). Repeat with the remaining risotto mixture until you have 12 even balls.
- Roll the risotto balls in the flour, then the egg, then lastly the breadcrumbs. Now you have arancini balls, ready to deep-fry. Sit the arancini balls on a baking tray and pace in the fridge to chill for half and hour.
- Heat oil in a large saucepan to about 5cm depth. Heat the oil to 190C over medium-high heat. Place 4-5 arancini balls in the hot oil and cook for about 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are deep golden in colour. Transfer to a wire rack set over paper towel to drain. Repeat until all arancini balls are done. Serve!
Notes
- I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon
- Make the risotto at least 3 hours before you want to serve the arancini as it needs time to cool between stages. You can speed up the cooling process by utilising your freezer though to cool it more quickly.
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2 Comments on “Sweet Corn Vegetarian Arancini”
Totally understand your need to do the photos again. I did the same during winter; chosen some of those bad ones to improve the whole idea, BUT I have found some bad ones again and, honestly, am afraid that I may find myself doing it over and over again 🙂 But I must say I truly admire your work. Are you of Italian origin ?
Hello, absolutely.There are some that I used to like and some that I knew weren’t that great but back at the start, I just didn’t know how to do different. I won’t change them all as I think it’s nice to remember where I started as well. Thank you so much. No, I’m not of Italian origin but often wish I was. I love Italy and the food and everyone that meets me asks if I am.