Vegan Arancini Balls
Arancini balls are all the rage here in Queenstown, New Zealand. I had never even heard of them before I moved here!
Nearly every restaurant here has them on their menu as an appetizer or tapas option, which was fascinating to me at first since my little New York brain had never been exposed to them before.
I tried some arancini balls before I went vegan and really enjoyed them.
There’s something great about bite-sized foods that just make eating a little more fun.
Plus, I’m a grazer, so I could eat all day every day.
I’d rather nibble on a platter and try all the bits and pieces than sit down for one big meal, to be honest.
Once I went vegan, I noticed there weren’t many places that made arancini balls without animal products in them.
Until last weekend that is!
A friend and I went into a local place called Attiqa here in Queenstown.
It’s a tapas bar that recently added arancini balls to their menu...their new vegan menu.
They had 7-8 vegan options on the tapas menu and, no joke, my friend and I ordered all of them.
Stuffed tomatoes came out first, which set the tone right. Then, we had veggie skewers, breaded eggplant, samosas, raspberry and mushroom something-or-other, and then...the arancini balls.
HOLY MOLY were they good.
I could’ve had a bucket of those things and gone to a three hour movie.
They were perfectly cooked -- probably fried -- but I didn’t care.
The flavor, the crunch, and the size was so damn good!
And, the avocado sauce they came with was just the perfect touch.
We ate every last morsel of food and not 1% of us felt bad about it.
In fact, the servers kept trying to clear our plates and we’d say, “WAIT! There’s still some sauce on there!” or “Oh, sorry, one last bite!”
The service was excellent and they were really on top of it, but we were greedy and wanted to basically lick our plates clean!
After I left Attiqa, I realized it’s about damn time I make my own arancini balls.
So, that’s just what I did.
Instead of frying them, we baked them, and it felt a lot better on my belly.
I don’t mind fried stuff on occasion, but if I have the chance to bake instead, I’ll take it!
The first round of homemade arancini balls was a wild success and I’m SO stoked about it.
Since we make risotto on the reg, it’s great to know there are creative options for our leftovers. Ya know, ‘cause that happens a lot 😅.
Now that we know arancini balls aren’t some elusive, mysterious restaurant-only dish, I know we’ll be making them more often for sure.
If you give ‘em a shot yourself! Let us know how you do!
VEGAN ARANCHINI BALLS
INGREDIENTS
This mushroom risotto recipe left overnight (or two nights)
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup shredded vegan cheddar cheese
½ tbsp nutritional yeast
Marinara sauce for dipping
INSTRUCTIONS
Use the pre-made risotto concoction from this recipe that has been left overnight or for two nights in the refrigerator (this is important so the rice becomes sticky). (INSERT LINK)
Preheat oven to 180°C/360°F.
In a separate bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs and the nutritional yeast.
Using a spoon, scoop out a golf-ball-sized amount of risotto and place some vegan cheese shreds in the middle of the ball.
Squeeze the rice together tightly so it all sticks into the shape of a ball.
Roll each ball in the breadcrumb mixture until well coated.
Place arancini balls evenly on a baking tray lined with baking paper and even spacing between them.
Place in oven for 40 minutes until lightly toasted.
Heat up marinara sauce on the stove.
Remove arancini balls from the oven once they have a golden brown look to them.
Dip, bite, enjoy!