1. Peel the onion and chop it very finely. Add the butter to a large pan or large pot and sauté the onion until soft and glossy. Add the rice and sauté briefly. Deglaze with the white wine and let the liquid boil away almost completely. Reduce the heat slightly and gradually add the warm veggie broth to the rice. The rice should always be slightly covered with the broth. Let the risotto simmer for about 18-20 minutes, stirring constantly. You want the rice to absorb all the liquid but still have a bite aka. being al dente. Add the grated Parmesan and stir in. Season with salt and pepper and then let the rice cool down completely. You can prepare the risotto rice a day in advance and then store it in the fridge.

2. When ready to prepare the Arancini, loosen the rice slightly if it sticks together. Add the eggs and mix well. There are two ways to shape the Arancini – you can either do it by hand or with an Arancini maker*. Both ways are similarly easy. If you want to make them by hand, wet your hands slightly, add some rice to the palm of your hand, and shape it into a ball. Press a well into the rice with your thumb and add some pesto and 1-2 mozzarella balls in the well. Add some more rice on top and shape into a ball again. The Arancini Maker will create quite large rice balls – if you do them by hand you have more control over the size ;) Place the rice balls on a plate and cover. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour.

3. Before you start deep-frying the Arancini, you need to coat the rice balls with breadcrumbs. To do this, have three bowls ready – one for the flour, one for the (lightly beaten) eggs, and one bowl for the breadcrumbs. Roll the cooled rice balls in the flour first, then in the egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. Set aside on a plate.

4. Add oil to a (small) pot and heat up. The pot should be big enough to fit 2-3 rice balls and the oil should be high enough, so the rice balls can swim in it. I always use a smaller pot and only deep-fry two rice balls at a time. Heat the oil to a temperature of about 350°F (180°C) and deep-fry the Arancini until golden brown – this takes only a few minutes. Be careful not to let the temperature of the oil drop too much, or the rice balls will soak it up. Remove the nicely browned Arancini from the oil with a slotted spoon and let them drain on a plate with kitchen paper. Repeat until all rice balls are deep-fried. Serve the Arancini still warm with some salad or antipasti.