Easy Baked Rice Balls (Arancini)

Today I have the pleasure of partnering with Minute® Rice to create this mouth-watering recipe. As always, thank you for supporting the products I love and use in my kitchen.

We all have our guilty pleasures and, while mine are usually sweet, rice balls have the savory honor. There's a gourmet Italian market dangerously close to my apartment and they make the most perfect arancini. They also have an amazing produce selection which is why I go there...cough, cough...OK, moving right along.

I've actually been meaning to make my own rice balls and probably have half a dozen recipes pinned. But it usually involves making risotto first and deep frying and somehow the recipe keeps falling to the bottom of my to-do list. But I've found in the past that sometimes the way to get started on a complex recipe is to make a simpler version first.

Cue my box of Minute® Rice and my go-to non-frying method, the oven. My favorite thing about Minute® Rice, apart from how quickly it can be prepared, is actually how perfectly each individual grain cooks. So it was almost a shame to make it goopy (a technical cooking term) with cheese but it does make for better rice balls. Very good rice balls, actually, Minute® Rice also comes in brown rice and a new multi-grain medley so more rice ball experimentation might be needed here. And just like that store is too dangerously close to my house, this recipe is too dangerously easy to make. But, it's the holidays so I have company to help me eat them all. Enjoy!

by Hungry Couple

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 30 Minutes

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Ingredients (Makes 1 Dozen)

• 1 Cup Minute® Rice
• 1 Cup water
• 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 2 Tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2/3 Cup seasoned Panko breadcrumbs
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bring the water to a boil, add the rice, cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Stir in one tablespoon of the butter, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and fold in the bacon and parsley.

Using a scoop (I used a 1 oz. scoop) or your hands, form the rice mixture into balls. Melt the remaining butter and spread the breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Dip each rice ball into the butter and then into the breadcrumbs. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the rice balls and continue baking for an additional 10 - 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. Serve hot with or without a dipping sauce.

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This is a sponsored post, written by me on behalf of Minute® Rice.