Pomegranate Arancini with Goat Cheese Fonduta

This is the first recipe in my Christmas dinner series for this year. When I found this appetizer I appreciated how beautiful it looked and how easy it would be to prepare, you can prep the arancini a day or so ahead of time and store them in the fridge then deep fry them before serving so they're hot.

2015 Christmas Recipes:
1.) Pomegranate Arancini with Goat Cheese Fonduta

Recipe from Cooking for Keeps.

Ingredients:
-2 tablespoons butter
-1/2 small onion, finely diced
-1 garlic clove, minced
-1 cup arborio rice
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-3 cups hot low-sodium vegetable stock
-½ cup parmesan cheese
-1 egg
-1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
-3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, plus more for garnish
-3/4 cup bread crumbs, divided
-5 ounces goat cheese
-½ cup cream or half & half
-Canola oil for frying

In a medium saute pan melt butter over a medium heat and then add the onion and garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add rice, stir to combine, cook another two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine, stir until liquid is just absorbed. Add 1/2 cup HOT vegetable stock, stir until almost absorbed. Repeat until all stock is gone. Season with a little bit of salt and pepper after every other addition.

The risotto is done when the mixture is creamy, and the rice is tender, but still has a bite. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. Spread on to a baking sheet to cool the rice before the next steps..

Once mixture has completely cooled, transfer to a mixing bowl. Add cheese, egg, parsley, pomegranate seeds and ¼ cup breadcrumbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Form into 1 ½ inch balls. Add remaining breadcrumbs in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper. and then coat the arancini in bread crumbs.

Heat about two inches of oil in a large heavy pot to 350 degrees. Then fry arancini in batches until each is golden brown. Drain on paper towel and sprinkle a little salt over them while they're still hot.

In a small saucepan, heat cream and goat cheese over a medium low heat, stirring occasionally until cheese is melted. Season with salt and pepper.

  

I really enjoyed this as an appetizer. I love risotto and deep frying pretty much anything automatically makes it better. The pomegranate seeds add a nice touch to this, having the burst of color and freshness is unique and not present in other arancini recipes. The goat cheese fonduta added another layer of flavor, but you could skip it if you want to make this dish easier to prepare.