Arancini Balls

Method

1. With wet hands divide and shape the paella into 10-12 balls. If the paella is too loose, mix in a few tbsp breadcrumbs until it’s thick enough to roll.
2. Roll each ball in flour, dust off the excess, then dip in egg.
3. Mix the breadcrumbs with the paprika and roll the balls in the crumbs, until well coated. Chill until you’re ready to fry and serve, or for at least 30 mins to allow the rice balls to firm up.
4. Fill a deep saucepan 3/4 full with oil. Bring up to 180C, or hot enough to brown a chunk of bread in 40 secs.
5. Use a slotted spoon to carefully lower the arancini into the hot oil and cook for 3-4 mins until golden brown, then drain on kitchen paper. Don’t overcrowd the pan or the temperature of the oil will drop.
6. To serve, skewer each arancini with a chunk of mozzarella and an olive using a cocktail stick.

For the dip:

1. Heat a medium frying pan over medium.
2. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, then onions.
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 6 to 7 min. Stir in garlic, hot-red-chili flakes, salt, coriander and cumin. Cook 1 min. Stir in tomatoes. Cook until tomatoes thicken, 4 to 5 min.
4. Scrape into a food processor with 1 tbsp of water, lemon juice and smoked paprika. Whirl until smooth. If needed, add a touch more olive oil to loosen the mixture.

Tips & Tricks:

• Making breadcrumbs from bread is so easy, inexpensive and is a great way to use up bread that has gone a bit stale! Also, this works with any bread – bagels, rolls, pitta... as well as a normal loaf!
• Get creative with your spices – we've suggested above what we think works well but this is not prescriptive! We want you to get creative and experiment with a whole range of flavours – let us know how you found this dish on social media @Quorn_Nutrition