Mushroom Arancini with Green Pesto Mayo

Serves: 8-10 Starters (40+ Pieces).
Time to Make: 180min (from scratch) Or 60min (From Pre-made Risotto).

Arancini dish originated in Sicily, Italy in the 10th century. These are small rice balls, coated with breadcrumb, easy to preserve and transport for traders, hunters and travellers. This also makes Arancini to be one of the original forms of portable take-away food.

Arancini is usually served as canapé, snack or a starter. It can be made from leftover risotto or from the risotto base made for this dish. There are plenty of variations of Arancini and here we will cover mushroom Arancini. Finally, Arancini can be frozen, so making a bigger batch is worth considering.

INGREDIENTS FOR Risotto Base

500 g x Arborio rice
350 g x Mixed mushrooms (e.g. shiitake, oyster, chestnut)
50 g x Grated Parmesan
5 g x Fresh tarragon
5 g x Fresh chives
1.5 L x Water
100 ml x White wine
2 x Bay leaves
1 x Small onion
1 x Celery stick
1 x Carrot
1 x Mushroom stock cube
3 tablespoons x Cooking oil
1 teaspoon x Salt
0.5 teaspoon x Black pepper

INGREDIENTS FOR Pane (Breadcrumb Coating)

300 g x Panko breadcrumbs
100 g x Plain flour
1 g x Black pepper
1 g x Salt
0.5-1 L x Oil for frying
100 ml x Milk
2 x Eggs

INGREDIENTS FOR Sauce

200 g x Mayonnaise
100 g x Green Pesto
20 g x Grated Parmesan
Optional – for garnish, we use a little bit of chives and grated Parmesan. Please leave some of these ingredients aside, if you wish to do the same.

METHOD FOR Risotto Base

For practical reasons, when making this at home and not wanting to have loads of cookware to wash, this recipe uses one medium size cooking pot.

Step 1: Start with dicing 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick into even-sized cubes.

Step 2: Dice 350 g of mixed mushrooms into similar-sized pieces, as in Step 1.

Step 3: In the medium size pot heat up 3 tablespoons of cooking oil. Add diced cubes from Step 1. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the high heat and mix it regularly.

Step 4: Add diced mushrooms from Step 2 to the same pot and cook for 4-5 minutes, mixing it often.

Step 5: Add 500 g of Arborio rice to the same pot. Stir well for 1 minute, so that rice gets warm or even hot. The correct temperature is when you cannot hold a handful of rice for 3 seconds but it is not recommended to test this for less experienced cooks.

Step 6: Add 1 teaspoon of salt, 0.5 teaspoon of black pepper, 2 bay leaves and 1 crushed mushroom stock cube to the same mix in the pot, made in Step 5.

Step 7: Pour 100 ml of white wine to the same pot, mixing it well and constantly to evaporate the alcohol. At this point rice will start cooking and stick to the bottom of the pan, as there is not enough liquid to cook it. Given this, let’s jump to the next step.

Step 8: Add 1.5 L of water to the mixture. The amount of water needed is approximately double the volume of the rice, vegetable and mushroom mix. Rice will absorb the liquid during the cooking, so more water might be needed during cooking. Cook on the medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes, mix it constantly as rice will get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Observe if there is enough of liquid during the cooking process and add more, if needed.

Step 9: Taste the rice, make sure it is cooked and, if so, remove it from the heat. Chop 5 g of fresh tarragon and 5 g of fresh chives, and add these to the mix.

Step 10: Finally, add 50 g of grated Parmesan and mix it well. Check seasoning and add more salt or pepper, if needed.

Now it is ready and can be served as mushroom risotto. For Arancini you will need to cool down this freshly made risotto, as it will be much easier to roll it, or you can use any leftover risotto, from other meals.

Chef’s TIPs:

Base Making: To make risotto base quicker, start with cooking plain rice. In the meantime, prepare vegetable and mushrooms, cook these in a separate pan and add it to the rice.

Base Cooling: To speed up cooling of the base, pour it on the cooking tray and sit that tray into another same size tray filled with ice and water. This process is called ice bath method and is commonly used in professional kitchens.

METHOD FOR Pane (Breadcrumbing Arancini)

Step 1: While risotto base is cooling down, prepare the pane mix. For this you will need 3 separate bowls. In the first bowl mix 100 g of plain flour, 1 g of salt and 1 g of black pepper. In the second bowl pour 100 ml of milk and beat 2 eggs into an even mass. The third bowl should be filled with 300 g of Panko breadcrumbs. Note: any breadcrumbs can be used but Panko gives the best texture, once fried.

Step 2: Once risotto base is cold, start rolling it into small balls. Regarding the size – if Arancini will be served as canapé or snack, then create one bite small pieces, if as a starter, then create larger in diameter pieces. This step will take some time, please be patient.

Step 3: Start the breadcrumbing process. Put a few rolled rice balls into the flour (the 1st bowl), and make sure they are coated evenly with flour. Now move these rice balls into the egg and milk mix (the 2nd bowl) and make sure they are covered evenly. Finally, move these rice balls into the Panko breadcrumbs (the 3rd bowl) and cover them evenly. Repeat the process until all Arancini are breadcrumbed.

Chef’s TIP:

Breadcrumbing Process: While breadcrumbing Arancini balls, use one hand for flour and breadcrumb steps (in the 1st bowl and the 3rd bowl) and another hand for egg and milk step (in the 2nd bowl). This way your hands will stay cleaner, as one hand will be using dry materials and another one – wet.

METHOD FOR Sauce & aRANCINI frying/SERVING

Step 1: Let’s make the sauce for Arancini. To keep it simple, mix 200 g of mayonnaise and 100 g of green pesto together and add 20 g of Parmesan to it. We used store-bought sauces for this step, instead of making our own.

Step 2: Depending on your kitchen setup, heat up 0.5 – 1 L of frying oil in a fryer or a pot, which can be used for frying. The oil temperature should be between 170 -180 C°. Start frying Arancini until its golden brown and it is ready to be served.

Step 3: Serve Arancini garnished with green pesto mayo. Add a few chives and some grated Parmesan, if you wish.

Chef’s TIPs:

Frying Tips: When using a regular pot for frying, please be extremely cautious. As oil expands when heated, choose a deeper pot to prevent splashes and spillage. Also, if possible, please use a perforated spoon to put Arancini into the hot oil and to take it out.

Storage Tips: Arancini can be made in advance and kept in the freezer for a long period of time or if you have anything left after making this batch, you can safely freeze it. Recommended storage time, if frozen, up to 3 months.