Christmas At Our House Part 2: Have you ever heard of arancini?

Arancini means "little oranges" in Italian...

My family made these for Christmas Eve every year. I did a little research and, with the help of my "taste testing family" we came up with our own versions of this traditional Italian treat.

These do look a little like oranges, but they are savory.

You start with white sushi rice. (I made mine with organic vegetable broth instead of water) When it's done cooking, let it cool.

Prepare:
1 bowl of organic plain bread crumbs
1 bowl with 2 beaten eggs (I used powdered egg replacer)
1 bowl of filling (I used 1 diced vegan Italian sausage, organic tomato sauce, and some shredded vegan cheese)
Stir some nutritional yeast into the rice for flavor. Add salt if you didn't add it to the rice while it was cooking.
Heat a pot of oil for frying.

Wet your hands with warm water (and keep a bowl of warm water close by) and place a small amount of rice in the palm of your hand. Form a well.

Add some of the filling into the well.

Top the well with more rice.

Form it into a ball. Allow the sauce to penetrate into the rice. Press tightly. This will help the sauce  flavor the rice.

Coat the rice ball with the egg (or egg replacer)...

... then, roll it in the breadcrumbs.

Carefully place it into the hot oil by lowering it slowly while it sits on a slotted spoon.
Turn it and allow it to brown all the way around.

Remove it from the oil and drain on a paper towel.

This "well used" frying pot comes out only once a year to make Christmas treats like this and homemade canolli shells.

Cool and enjoy.

There are so many varieties of arancini on the Internet. Some are sweet, some are savory, and some combine both!

I think these 6 aracini look like a fat gingerbread boy.
Look closely, can you see his face???

Tell me about your favorite holiday foods that you enjoy making and stop by again tomorrow to see part 3 in my Christmas cooking series.

Merry Christmas!