Made in Sicily, vegetarian and anti-waste, the recipe for arancini

If, like us, you’ve been obsessed with Sicilian cuisine since watching season 2 of ‘The White Lotus’, you’ll love the arancini. Inevitable in the cuisine of the Italian island, these arancini the size of a small orange – hence their name – are the anti-waste product par excellence, as they are prepared with leftover risotto.

If the original recipe calls for meat – ragout to be exact – the arancini can also be eaten in a vegetarian version, decorating them with buffalo mozzarella and diced tomatoes.

Ingredients for 8 vegetarian arancini

• About 300 g of risotto from the day before (we recommend this delicious vegan recipe)
• 2 eggs
• 1 ball of buffalo mozzarella
• 2 small cloves of garlic
• 2 fresh onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 4 nice fresh basil leaves
• 150 g of breadcrumbs
• Olive or sunflower oil
• Salt and pepper

The recipe for vegetarian arancini

• Cut the mozzarella and cherry tomatoes into cubes.
• Finely chop the garlic, fresh onions and basil leaves.
• Lightly beat the 2 eggs.
• Add the eggs, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, garlic and onions to the risotto. Salt and pepper to taste.
• In a large dish, spread the breadcrumbs in an even layer.
• In the palm of your hand form balls of rice the size of a tangerine, with a diameter of between 5 and 8 cm.
• Once the arancini are formed, roll them in the breadcrumbs.
• In a pan previously greased with oil, brown the rice balls for about 2 minutes on each side, until the outside is crispy and golden brown.
• Once cooked, place them on a plate on which you have placed some absorbent paper, to squeeze out the oil after cooking.
• Have fun while it’s hot!