Portions: 4 portions Calories: 362kcal |
These cheesy baked stuffed rice balls with olives are a fancy way to recycle leftover rice! These arancini-inspired baked stuffed rice balls will be the new stars of your appetizer platter, and are easy and quick to make. The recipe includes a scrumptious tomato dipping sauce.
By - Last revised . Original Dec 10, 2014.
Why I ❤️ it Recipe Ingredients Preparation
Baked stuffed rice balls.
Why I ❤️ it
I am one of those people who can't find enough ways to eat olives. They make an amazing, simple-yet-refined part of an appetizer array. Imagine how much better they are wrapped in cheesy stuffed rice balls, and dipped in a flavorful tomato dip.
Surprise your guests with these baked arancini rice balls, they're creamy inside, very crispy on the outside (reminds me of Dominican concon).
Baked stuffed rice balls recipe
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Utensils and tools
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 2 cup large tomato, peeled, seeded and chopped (about 4 large tomatoes)
- ½ teaspoon sugar (white, granulated)
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground), crushed
- 1 garlic cloves, crushed
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
For the rice balls
- 2 cup leftover cooked white rice
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk (whole or skim)
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 8 pitted green olives
Preparation
Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
Step 1: Prepare the sauce
To prepare the tomato sauce, in a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Once heated, stir in tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, add the sugar and ½ cup of water.
Once heated through, lower heat and simmer covered until you obtain a thick (chunky) sauce. Season with salt to taste. You should obtain about 1 ½ cup of sauce. Remove from the heat, and set it aside.
Step 2: Combine
While the sauce is boiling, start to make the rice ball by combining rice, flour, milk and ½ cup of water in a medium saucepan.
Heat and simmer over very low heat, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Mix in ¼ of a cup of Parmesan (set aside the rest) and cook stirring until it turns into a very thick mix. Remove from the stove and cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Heat the oven
Heat oven to 450 ºF [230 ºC].
While the oven is preheating, place the rice mixture on the clean counter or cutting board, and knead pressing for a minute to make it into a more compact mixture.
Step 4: Make the balls
To make the balls, place 2 tablespoons of the rice mixture on your hand and flatten, place an olive in the center and wrap the rice around it, shaping into a ball. Squeeze to make sure there are no cracks.
Coat the ball with the remaining Parmesan, and squeeze them to make sure the cheese sticks. Repeat to form 7 more balls. Place on a baking tray lined with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
Step 4: Bake
To cook the rice balls, bake in the preheated oven until the balls turn golden brown (15-20 mins).
Once browned, remove from the oven. Let them cool slightly before serving. Serve alongside the tomato sauce.
Top tips
Yield
The recipe yields 8 balls of slightly smaller than an egg, you can double the ingredients to make 16 if you wish.
Making ahead and storing
You can also make them and refrigerate or freeze right before baking, and bake soon before your guests arrive you wish.
Serving suggestions
I have served these baked Italian rice balls with a Mediterranean-inspired tomato sauce, but you can try other dips and see if you like the combination, my personal preference, aside from this tomato sauce, is an aioli.
Variations
If you do not want to stuff them with olives, these rice balls are quite nice just on their own, or you can stuff them with a small cube of mozzarella too.
If you're looking for another rice bite-size rice dish, then check out onigiri.
You can also serve some vegan meatballs, some cracker toppings, and some chocolate almonds for a lovely appetizer tray.
Nutritional information
Calories: 362kcal - Carbohydrates: 56g - Protein: 12gFat: 9g - Saturated Fat: 4g - Cholesterol: 15mg - Sodium: 546mg - Potassium: 258mg - Fiber: 2g - Sugar: 4g - Vitamin A: 625IU - Vitamin C: 6.9mg - Calcium: 268mg - Iron: 0.9mg
FAQs
How to make baked rice balls with leftover rice?
These baked rice ball with leftover rice are made by cooking the leftover rice again with milk, flour and parmesan cheese to make the rice sticky enough to form balls, then baking them.
How to make crunchy baked rice balls?
These rice balls are baked coated with parmesan cheese, which helps bind them, but also contributes to the crunchy crust it forms after baking.
Print card
This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.
Arancini-Inspired Leftover Rice Baked Stuffed Rice Balls
Ingredients
For the tomato sauce
- 2 cup large tomato peeled, seeded and chopped (about 4 large tomatoes)
- ½ teaspoon sugar (white, granulated) white, granulated
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground), crushed
- 1 garlic cloves crushed
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
For the rice balls
- 2 cup leftover cooked white rice
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk whole or skim
- 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese divided
- 8 pitted green olives
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare the sauce
- To prepare the tomato sauce, in a saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Once heated, stir in tomatoes, garlic, and oregano, add the sugar and ½ cup of water.Once heated through, lower heat and simmer covered until you obtain a thick (chunky) sauce. Season with salt to taste. You should obtain about 1 ½ cup of sauce. Remove from the heat, and set it aside.
Step 2: Combine
- While the sauce is boiling, start to make the rice ball by combining rice, flour, milk and ½ cup of water in a medium saucepan.Heat and simmer over very low heat, until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Mix in ¼ of a cup of Parmesan (set aside the rest) and cook stirring until it turns into a very thick mix. Remove from the stove and cool to room temperature.
Step 3: Heat the oven
- Heat oven to 450 ºF [230 ºC].While the oven is preheating, place the rice mixture on the clean counter or cutting board, and knead pressing for a minute to make it into a more compact mixture.
Step 4: Make the balls
- To make the balls, place 2 tablespoons of the rice mixture on your hand and flatten, place an olive in the center and wrap the rice around it, shaping into a ball. Squeeze to make sure there are no cracks.Coat the ball with the remaining Parmesan, and squeeze them to make sure the cheese sticks. Repeat to form 7 more balls. Place on a baking tray lined with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
Step 5: Bake
- To cook the rice balls, bake in the preheated oven until the balls turn golden brown (15-20 mins).Once browned, remove from the oven. Let them cool slightly before serving. Serve alongside the tomato sauce.
Cook's notes
Nutrition
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By , published Dec 10, 2014 on Tia Clara
I made this for my daily Spanish project, therefore, my comment is in Spanish: Yo probado el plátanos madurps al horno. Eran realmente bueno, pero no me gustan aceitunas para no comerlos. Ellos bastante fácil de hacer y rápidamente a hacer tambien.
I made this for my daily Spanish project, therefore, my comment will be in Spanish: Yo probado el bolas de arroz al horno rellenas de aceitunas y me encantó! Pero, no me gustan aceitunas, para no comerlos. Le di a mi mamá y le encantó tambien.
Excellent recipe, I love finding new ways to reuse leftovers.
Yum, this recipe looks exqusite! I have never seen (or tried) a rice ball recipe that incorporates cheese and olives. Also, the fact that you bake these rice balls is very unique as well. This recipe is a must-try.
This reminds me very much of the sicilian fried rice balls I used to have in Italy, I will try this version 🙂