Serve up these Italian Rice Balls for a fun and tasty appetizer this holiday season. The rice ball recipe can be made using the Cuisinart Air Fryer Toaster Oven or in your convection oven. They are simple to prepare ahead of time and will be a hit with guests. The outside of each ball gets crunchy from the breadcrumbs and fryer, while the inside stays soft and cheesy. You can serve them plain, with a marinara sauce, or even a creamy dip.
Ingredients
- 1 cup medium-grain white rice
- 2 cup water
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 large egg, beaten well
- 3 tablespoon grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup basil leaves, thinly sliced
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ounce mozzarella cheese, cut into 1-inch x ¼-inch pieces
- 1/4 cup Italian-Style breadcrumbs
- olive oil, for spraying
- 1 cup prepared marinara sauce, for dipping, optional
Instructions:
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Put the rice, water and salt into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Once rice comes to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer until all the water has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Cool fully before adding the following egg and cheese mixture; cooling the rice will help prevent the egg from cooking.
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In a small bowl, combine the egg, Pecorino, ricotta, basil, and pepper. While mixing and ung the rice with a spoon, mix in the egg and cheese mixture. Spread the rice onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Refrigerate to chill, at least 30 minutes.
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Once the rice has chilled, use slightly wet hands to scoop 3 tablespoons of rice and form into a ball. Repeat with remaining rice. Stuff each ball with one piece of the mozzarella and re-form if necessary.
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Place the AirFryer Basket onto the Baking Pan. Put the breadcrumbs into a small bowl. Gently toss each rice ball into the breadcrumbs and transfer to the basket. Spray all sides with oil.
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Put the assembled pan into Rack Position 2. Set to AirFry at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Cook rice balls until evenly golden. Serve immediately, with marinara sauce on the side if desired.
Contest Rules:
Contest Rules:
- There is a maximum of one extra entry per person. The extra entry will be based upon a comment left on this post. Duplicate comments are not tallied.
- The winner will be selected at random from the comments on this page and the entries on the contest page.
- The winner will be contacted on the morning of November 19th, 2018.
- Email Address provided in their account (please do NOT leave your email address in the comments--you already provided it when you created your account)
- You have until November 18th, 2018 at 11:59pm EST to leave your comment on this post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US and/or Canada. Excludes Quebec and Puerto Rico.
Which fried food would you like to "health-ify" in the air fryer?
Let us know below in the comments!