Italian Rice Balls with Ham and Mozzarella (VIDEO)
Rice balls with ham and mozzarella are typical Sicilian street food. This recipe is an easy version of traditional Sicilian Arancini, delicious stuffed rice balls, breaded, and fried until golden brown. It takes just one bite to realize why Italian Rice Balls are so popular.
Sicilian Arancini is the typical street food of the region of Sicily. These are rice balls stuffed in various ways, breaded, and fried until golden brown.
The recipe I will show you today is not an authentic Sicilian recipe, but one of my friends taught me a long time ago, and it is a quick and easy way to create excellent rice balls still.
In this recipe, you learn how to prepare rice arancini with a double heart of cooked ham and stringy mozzarella, which is irresistible to both adults and children.
Ingredients for Rice Balls Stuffed with Ham and Mozzarella
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- Water
- Salt
- White rice (Carnaroli or Arborio)
- Butter
- All-purpose wheat flour
- Tomato sauce
- Diced ham
- Mozzarella cheese
- Breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
Watch this Arancini Recipe Video Tutorial
How to Make Italian Rice Balls Recipe
Prepare the Rice. Add 1.2 liters of water to a saucepan and heat over high heat. When it boils, add 1 tablespoon of salt and rice. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is cooked, and the water is completely absorbed.
In a bowl, add cooked rice and butter and stir to create a creamy and uniform mixture. Spread the rice onto a large baking sheet in a layer of about 1 cm and cover it with a transparent film. This will prevent the surface of the rice from drying out. Let the rice cool completely at room temperature (this will take a couple of hours).
After this time, take a couple of tablespoons of rice with your hand. Hold your hand in the shape of a cup and use your other hand to flatten the rice until it forms a cup-like shape. The thickness must be at least 1.5 cm, otherwise, the filling will flow out. To help you with this step, have a bowl filled with water nearby, to moist your hands if needed.
Stuff and Shape. Add a teaspoon of tomato sauce, a piece of mozzarella, and 3–4 pieces of ham to the center of the rice. Then add a spoonful of rice on top to cover the ball. Shape Arancino with your hands until it turns into a ball. Repeat with the remaining rice.
Cook. Now that all the rice balls are ready, you can prepare a batter. In a large bowl, add the sifted flour, a teaspoon of salt, and 300 ml of water. Beat well with a whisk so that no lumps form.
Add breadcrumbs to a plate. Dip the Arancini one by one into the batter, being careful to coat them completely. Roll them in breadcrumbs, reshaping them with your hands. Set aside until all the rice balls are coated.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and bring it to 170 °C. Check the temperature with a cooking thermometer. Deep-fry one Arancino at a time, or two at a time. Do not fry more than one or two arancini at a time, otherwise the oil gets too cold and the arancini won’t have a golden and crunchy crust! Flip Arancini often, so they don’t brown too much on one side. When the rice balls are golden brown, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them onto a baking sheet lined with absorbent paper.
Your Italian rice balls are ready. Enjoy them while they’re still hot!
How to serve Italian Rice Balls with Mozzarella and Ham
Spread a serving dish with a little tomato sauce and arrange 2-3 still hot arancini on top. Garnish with some fresh basil leaves if desired.
Italian Rice Balls Storage Instructions
Refrigerator. The ready-made rice balls can be stored in the refrigerator for 1–2 days. Heat them in the oven at 180 °C before serving. Alternatively, you can cook the rice the day before, cover it with plastic wrap and leave it overnight in the refrigerator. Then continue with the next steps.
Freezer. You can store the ready-made arancini for 1 month in the freezer. In this case, I advise you to defrost them in the refrigerator overnight and then heat them in the oven at 180 °C before serving. If you used fresh ingredients that have not been defrosted, you can freeze the not cooked arancini. Frozen arancini can be fried before serving, always dipping a maximum of 2 at a time so as not to cool the oil too much.
Italian Rice Balls with Ham and Mozzarella
Ingredients
- 1.2 l + 300 ml water
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon salt
- 500 g white rice Carnaroli or Arborio
- 30 g butter
- 200 g all-purpose wheat flour
- 100 g tomato sauce plus more for serving (optional)
- 30 g diced ham
- 120 g mozzarella cheese
- 150 g breadcrumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Add 1.2 liters of water to a saucepan and heat over high heat. When it boils, add 1 tablespoon of salt and rice. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the rice is cooked, and the water is completely absorbed.
- In a bowl, add cooked rice and butter. Stir to create a creamy and uniform mixture.
- Spread the rice onto a large baking sheet in a layer of about 1 cm and cover it with a transparent film. Let the rice cool completely at room temperature (this will take a couple of hours).
- Take a couple of tablespoons of rice with your hand. Hold your hand in the shape of a cup and use your other hand to flatten the rice until it forms a cup-like shape. The thickness must be at least 1.5 cm, otherwise the filling will flow out. To help you with this step, have a bowl filled with water nearby, to moist your hands if you needed.
- Add a teaspoon of tomato sauce, a piece of mozzarella and 3–4 pieces of ham to the center of the rice. Then add a spoonful of rice on top to cover the ball. Shape Arancino with your hands until it turns into a ball. Repeat with the remaining rice.
- In a large bowl, add the sifted flour, a teaspoon of salt, and 300 ml of water. Beat well with a whisk so that no lumps form.
- Add breadcrumbs to a plate. Dip the Arancini one by one into the batter, being careful to coat them completely. Then roll them in breadcrumbs, reshaping them with your hands. Set aside until all the rice balls are coated.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan and bring it to 170 °C. Check the temperature with a cooking thermometer. Deep-fry one Arancino at a time, or two at a time. Flip Arancini often, so they don't brown too much on one side. When the rice balls are golden brown, remove them from the oil with a slotted spoon and place them onto a baking sheet lined with absorbent paper.
- Your Italian rice balls are ready. Spread a serving dish with a little tomato sauce and arrange 2-3 still hot arancini on top. Garnish with some fresh basil leaves if desired. Enjoy them immediately!
