Baked Brown Rice Balls

I accidentally stumbled upon Baked Brown Rice Balls while looking for recipes with leftovers. And as I dug deeper and deeper, there were numerous recipes for this classic Italian dish made from leftovers. The yummiest of them being the fried ones.

Taking a bit from here and another from there, this recipe has been modified to suit whatever was available in my kitchen today. I baked them instead of frying, which is what everyone seems to be doing these days and what came out of the oven was nothing short of delicious.

Ingredients

Cooked Brown rice – 2 cups

Finely chopped Spring onions – 4 tsp (just the green part)

Bread crumbs – half a cup (divided into two portions)

Egg – 1 small

Italian seasoning – 1 tsp

Red chili flakes – as tolerated

Dried parsley leaves – 1 tsp

Olive oil – for drizzling

Grated Parmesan cheese – half a cup (optional)

Cheddar/mozzarella cheese – 8 small cubes

Salt and pepper

Combine the rice, spring onions, one part of bread crumbs, egg, Parmesan cheese and the seasonings. Mix well. Take a spoonful of mixture in your hand, insert a cube of cheese in between, cover it with yet another spoonful of the same mixture and roll to form a ball. In a plate, spread the other portion of bread crumbs. Roll the rice ball in the bread crumbs and put in the baking tray. Repeat with all.

I started baking the rice balls at 350 F for 30 minutes, added 10 more minutes, lost patience and increased the temperature to 400 F and time by 15 minutes. To avoid losing control of the mind, drizzle olive oil on top and bake on 400 F for about 20 minutes or until the rice balls form a nice brown crust.

Cheese in this recipe is optional but I do not guarantee if they will taste the same, never tried them without it!

Serving suggestions

*With ketchup or dipped in Marinara Sauce

*In red gravy in place of meat balls with spagetti

Tips

*Egg has been used as a binding agent here, you can use more bread crumbs or

  corn starch instead

*finely chopped vegetables like carrots/ bell peppers can also be added to the

  rice mixture

Interesting fact

·         The art of baking was made popular by the Romans.