Every time we make Spanish rice as a side dish for dinner we always end up with leftovers. Not enough leftovers to use for another dinner. But enough for lunch IF there were some leftover slow cooked meat to put on top of it. But 99% of the time there isJUST have rice left. Which makes me want to just throw it out because I can’t make a quick heat and lunch with it.
However, contemplating throwing it out makes me feel wasteful. Especially since when I make Spanish rice from scratch it has a plethora of tasty veggies and a bit of saffron. So I’ve been wondering if there might be some other way I could reuse it. Enter Arancini.
Arancini is an Italian appetizer/snack that is made from cooked risotto coated in breadcrumbs and fried. They often have a filling of meat, cheese or a ragu and are served with a tomato sauce for dipping. Given that my spanish rice ALSO uses a short grained rice and has tasty bits. I wondered if I could make a riff on arancini with it.
So I combined my rice leftovers, egg, panko breadcrumbs, and cheese. Then I formed balls and rolled them in panko. I placed these on a parchment lined baking sheet, sprayed with avocado oil and convection baked for 15 minutes.
The result was tasty crunch little bits of goodness. Combine with some warm salsa bravas and you have a delightful little treat.