Corned Beef Arancini

Corned Beef Arancini

I love the challenge of turning leftovers into something new. Especially after a long holiday, when the last thing you want to do is eat the same food you’ve been eating for a week. I open my fridge, take out all the leftovers and spread them out on the counter. Then, like a Chopped-Champion-Wannabe, I play around with my ingredients to make something new, fresh and exciting.

In the past, I whipped up a lightened up turkey pot pie with my leftover turkey roast. When I was challenged to come up with a dish for my leftover corned beef and some delicious risotto that was too good to throw away, I knew just what to make. Arancini made the perfect light dinner, with a side of leftover vegetable soup.

If you’re not familiar with arancini, it’s a traditional Italian dish of fried rice balls made with leftover risotto. While risotto is usually made with parmesan, salty corned beef makes the perfect substitute in this meat version. If you don’t keep kosher (as I do), feel free to add a bite of gooey mozzarella in the center.

If you’ve got other leftovers from the holiday and your family is turning their noses at the idea of eating it – think outside the box. Turn your leftover chicken into chicken pot pie or your leftover mashed potatoes and brisket into shepherd’s pie. Your extra matbucha can become some breakfast shakshuka or your leftover salmon can turn into the perfect pasta dish. If you need inspiration – I’m up for the challenge! Just message me on Facebook and I’ll give you some ideas!

Other leftover ideas:

leftover cake: quick & easy individual trifles
leftover rice: pineapple fried rice
leftover challah: perfect pareve french toast
leftover chicken: curry chicken salad or Asian chicken salad or pulled chicken sammies
leftover salmon: salmon cakes or salmon pasta salad

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18 thoughts on “Corned Beef Arancini

  1. I made these after making a batch of risotto straight from the airport souvenir shop in Rome. A trafe heathen that I am, I put applewood smoked ham in mine and used panko seasoned with Italian herbs. They were great! I had 24 done in about 30 minutes. Thanks for the “what to do with leftover risotto and making your posts SEO friendly so I could find the recipe in the first place!

  2. Dear Chanie,
    Thank you for sharing your exquisite talents. I really enjoy your recipes!
    While I realize that your blog caters to a wider audience, I have a concern that suggesting nonkosher combinations (such as the meat and cheese here) can potentially cause non-religious jews to eat basar b’chalav which is an issue d’oraysa, and would be the responsibility of whoever suggested it. Please be more careful in the future
    All the best.

    1. I’m curious as to where you see meat and cheese listed together in this recipe? The risotto here is pareve so I don’t understand what you are referring to.

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