Vegan Stuffed Italian Rice Balls

Step 1

2 days before you're planning to serve the rice balls (see note* below), cook the rice: boil water and rice together on medium, letting all of the water to be absorbed by the rice. It's best if you let the rice overcook a little. You may need to add a little more water towards the end to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom.

Step 2

Once the rice is cooked, let it cool a little while you're preparing the flax egg. To do that, just mix together the ground flax and warm water, let it sit for 5 min to thicken. Mix in the flax egg into the rice; stir to combine well. Cover the rice dish tightly with plastic wrap or a lid, put in the fridge overnight.

Step 3

One day before serving the rice balls, make the stuffing and assemble the balls. To make the stuffing, sautee chopped mushrooms and onions until soft, then add them to crumbled sausage. Stir in marinara sauce. The mixture should look like thick bolognese sauce.

Step 4

Assembling the rice balls: take a small handful of the rice mixture, press it in your hand to look like a little bowl. Put a small spoonful of the sausage mix into the center, then take a bit more of the rice, cover the stuffing, and shape the rice into a ball with the stuffing in the middle. Do not overstuff the balls! You may end up with a lot of stuffing left over (I did!), just freeze it and use later as makeshift bolognese sauce for pasta.

Step 5

Once all of the balls are assembled, put together a breading station. In a small bowl, whisk together almond milk and chickpea flour until no clumps are left; put breadcrumbs into a separate small dish.

Step 6

Dip each rice ball in the almond milk mix, then roll in the breadcrumbs until well coated. Put the breaded rice balls into a casserole dish lined with wax paper. Once all of the rice balls are assembled, cover the casserole dish and store in the fridge overnight.

Step 7

The day of your big feast, take the rice balls out of the fridge 30 min before frying them. Heat up vegetable oil in a deep, thick-walled pan (the oil level should be enough to cover the rice balls by 3/- see notes below . When the oil is hot, drop the rice balls, 2-3 at a time, into the oil, cook for 4-6 min, turning them a few times to ensure even cooking. Once the breadcrumbs look golden brown, take the balls out and set on a dish lined with paper towels. Repeat with the rest of the rice balls. Let them cool slightly before digging in!