Arancini served with grated parmesan and a yuzu, egg yolk and parmesan sauce, and freshly shaved black truffle

arancini on baking paper ready to be frozen uncovered in trays until solid then put in ziplock (airtight) bags in the freezer.

Arancini are one of my must have festive foods. I sleep so much better at night knowing I have a healthy supply of these mushroom and truffle arancini stashed in the freezer. You can whip them out at a moment’s notice, crisp them up in a hot oven and serve them with drinks to any fortunate festive frequenters of your home. They pair perfectly with an icy glass of prosecco, or any dry white wine, but the bold mushroom and earthy truffle can also hold their own against a medium bodied red. So there you go, a flexible festive bar snack that will be piping hot and melty-middled a mere 20 minutes from being fished out of the freezer.

This is also an amazing last minute starter. I sometimes make some of my arancini a bit larger than the ‘bar snack’ ones described above to serve as a plated starter. Pictured above the single arancino is served on a yuzu, parmesan and egg yolk sauce with a collar of freshly grated parmesan and a truffle hat. Whilst I have not written out the sauce recipe it is essentially a béchamel with parmesan melted in at the end and yuzu added to give some freshness. I then added a lovely orange yolk for richness and used a hand blender to achieve a totally smooth silky sauce.

This recipe makes 45 bar snack sized arancini but you can make them any size you want (within reason; I don’t know why I am picturing a snow man made out of giant arancini but I am, and now you are too. Sorry) Moving swiftly on to a quick note about ingredients.

The truffle seasoning/powder (pictured below) is central to this dish. You could replace it with another truffle product of your choice but make sure it is a potent one! The one I like is from Sabatino Tartufi and available on Amazon I believe. The Porcini powder I use is from Waitrose and is worth getting if you can find it ,as it is such a great flavour booster. Finally I recommend that you grate your own parmesan with as fine a grater as you own, and preferably a microplane. If you don’t have one, get one! The microplane grater is firmly in my top ten kitchen utensils (what, you don’t rank your utensils? Weird.)

Here is my recipe for truffle and mushroom arancini. I hope they make it to your table this festive season, and provide the fuel for lots of merriment and fun.

Head to my Instagram page to see my how-to reel for this recipe @gggsarah

Truffle and Mushroom Arancini Recipe

makes 45

To cook the risotto:

500g arborio rice

500g button mushrooms

2 yellow onions

Tablespoon butter

Teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Chicken and mushroom stock as needed (bouillon powder, mushroom stalks, one handful of dehydrated forest mushrooms and water)

To finish the risotto:

70g butter

60g freshly grated Parmesan

Heaped teaspoon Porcini mushroom powder (I got mine from Waitrose)

Half bunch fresh parsley (two handfuls when chopped finely)

Truffle powder to taste

White pepper to taste

Salt to taste

For the balls:

350g Cooking mozzarella (firm kind with less moisture)

350g Golden fine breadcrumbs

3 eggs

Pull out the stalks of the mushrooms and wash the stalks well with water. Place in a large saucepan. Peel the mushroom caps and dice them finely (I pulse them in a food processor a few times).
In the saucepan with the mushroom stalks add water, bouillon powder and a handful of dehydrated mixed forest mushrooms and bring to a simmer.
In a large dry pan toast the rice on a medium heat stirring. When the rice is too hot to squeeze in your hand it is ready. Remove it from the pan and set aside in a bowl.
Add a tablespoon of butter and a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and fry the mushrooms on high heat until a golden colour and toasty fragrance is achieved. Set aside in a bowl.
Finely dice onions and place them into the pan (the same pan you just used to toast the rice and fry the mushrooms) along with a splash of olive oil and pinch of salt. Gently sweat the onions.
Add the rice back into the pan and stir. Add a ladle of simmering stock and stir. When the liquid has been absorbed add two more ladlefuls. Repeat this until the rice is cooked. Stir in the mushrooms.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the porcini powder, 70g butter and grated Parmesan. Season with salt and white pepper and finally stir in the chopped parsley.
Spread the risotto on trays (see picture) and cover with cling film in contact. Refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
To make the rice balls, cut mozzarella into small cubes. Take a small handful of risotto and flatten it in the palm of your hand. Place a mozzarella cube in the centre and fold the rice around it. Roll between your palms, into a ball. Repeat until the risotto mix is used up. Refrigerate for 3 hours minimum before moving on to the breadcrumb stage in step 10.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl and place the breadcrumbs in another bowl. Dip each rice ball in the egg and then roll in the breadcrumbs.
Heat oil to 180c (I use a deep fryer but you could also deep fry in a saucepan). Fry the arancini in batches until golden.
Eat immediately, keep warm in the oven or keep in the fridge for 4 days. To reheat, bake in the oven at 180c. Alternatively these freeze very well and can be cooked in the oven from frozen. Freeze the arancini spaced out on trays (lined with baking parchment) overnight and then place in air tight bags. To reheat, place the arancini on a lined baking tray in a preheated oven at 180c for around 20 minutes or until the centre is piping hot.