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Delicious arancini balls with the best marinara sauce
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5 from 2 votes

Delicious Arancini Balls with the Best Marinara Sauce

Homemade arancini balls are easy and incredibly tasty! Served with a marinara sauce which you can use with everything. A dreamy combination.
Course Main Course
Cuisine Plant-based
Diet Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword Arancini, Arancini Balls, Marinara sauce, Plant-based, Vegan
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Author Niki Webster

Ingredients

For the Risotto (this is enough for two portions of risotto & approx 8 arancini balls–depending on the size).

  • 1/2 medium organic butternut squash or pumpkin peeled and cut into small cubes
  • 2 medium onions chopped finely
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic sliced
  • Small sprig rosemary
  • 1 litre organic veg stock
  • 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes
  • Zest 1 organic lemon
  • Juice 1 lemon
  • Good pinch sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • 4 tsp nutritional yeast

For the marinara sauce

  • 2 tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 1 onion–finely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 10 very ripe fresh tomatoes chopped or 2 cans organic plumb tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • Big twist black pepper
  • Pinch chilli flakes optional
  • 1/2 tbsp coconut/brown sugar optional
  • Fresh basil

For the arancini balls

  • 1 cup breadcrumbs–I used a few days old sourdough. Just break up a little and add to your food processor and blitz until you get a fine crumb.
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp sesame seeds
  • Big pinch chilli flakes

Instructions

To make the risotto

  • Add your oil and onion to a wide bottom pan and fry gently on a low heat for around 10 minutes until soft and browning.
  • Peel and de-seed the rest of the squash and chop into small cubes. Add to the pan with the garlic and fry for a further 5 minutes.
  • Add the rice, rosemary and a splash of white wine to the pan and stir thoroughly to combine. Pour in about 400ml of the stock.
  • Turn up the heat a little and then keep adding more stock when the rice has absorbed the liquid. Repeat until the rice is cooked but still has a little bite and the squash is tender. Or for soft gooey rice, cover the pan and allow to sit in the pan with the heat off for a further 5 minutes or so.
  • Add in the zest and juice of your lemon, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and nutritional yeast and stir to combine.

To make the marinara sauce

  • Add your oil and onion to a wide bottom pan and fry gently on a low heat for around 10 minutes until soft and browning. Add the garlic and fry for 30 seconds more.
  • Add the tomatoes, tomato purée and oregano to the pan and cook on a low heat for 25 minutes.
  • Add the salt, black pepper and optional chilli flakes and coconut sugar to the pan and simmer for a further 5 minutes.

To make the arancini

  • Scoop up and squish together a small amount of the Risotto in your hands, then roll them into balls–not too big or they may break up. Place the balls on a plate ready for rolling.
  • Add the bread crumbs, sesame seeds, nutritional yeast, salt and chilli flakes to a bowl. Mix to combine thoroughly.
  • Add each ball to the mix and roll around to coat. Repeat.
  • Add the olive oil to a large flat bottom frying pan and then add the balls. Fry on a low to medium heat for a few minutes on each side until crispy. You may need to do this in batches. If so, add a little more oil if needed.
  • Remove from the pan and place on a large baking tray.
  • Bake for 10 minutes on Gas Mark 4/180C.

Notes

4 servings