Arancini with Tomato and Red Pepper Dipping Sauce

For the dipping sauce (optional):
Put tinned tomatoes, red peppers, red chili, tomato paste, olive oil, garlic and a pinch of salt and pepper in a blender. Blend for 1–2 minutes until smooth, then transfer to a pot. Alternatively, if you don’t have a blender, you could just put all the ingredients in the pot and use a hand blender instead.

Bring to the boil on high heat on the stove. Once sauce is boiling, turn heat down low and gently simmer for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened. I recommend half covering the pot with a lid because the sauce can splatter a fair bit while simmering. Turn the heat off, stir basil leaves through the sauce, then set aside.

For the arancini:
Put risotto in a bowl.

Get one of the eggs, then separate the yolk from the white. Add yolk to the risotto mixture and the white in a separate bowl. Mix the yolk through the risotto.

Get a bowl of water, then lightly wet your hands. Get a golfball-sized piece of risotto rice in your hand, then push a small dent in it with your finger. Fill it with a small bit of the goat cheese, then mould the risotto rice around the cheese into a ball. Do the same with the rest of the risotto and set aside.

Crack the remaining eggs in the bowl with the egg white, add a pinch of salt and pepper then whisk well with a fork. Put seasoned flour on one plate, and seasoned breadcrumbs on another plate.

Roll some of the rice balls on plate with the flour, making sure they are all coated. Shake off the excess flour then dip in the bowl with the egg. Finally, transfer to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and coat well. Once all rice balls are coated, put on a plate then put in the fridge to firm up.

Put enough oil in a pot to deep fry, then get it on the stove on high flame. Preheat for about 8–10 minutes. You can test to see if the oil is hot enough by adding a peice of bread; if it is floating and bubbling, you are ready to start frying the arancini. Get some kitchen paper ready. From there, just turn the heat down to about medium flame.

Carefully submerge the rice balls in the oil, about 4-5 at a time, making sure you don’t overcrowd the pot. Fry for about 2–3 minutes until golden brown. Transfer rice balls onto kitchen paper to drain.

Let cool for a bit, reheat the dipping sauce and serve. Enjoy!