Time: 90 minutes

These little balls of goodness are like sunshine on your face on a wonderful summer day – enjoy!

Music Selection: James Taylor & Yo-Yo-Ma – Here Comes the Sun

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth

2 Tbsp olive oil

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 cups arborio rice

½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

½ cup mascarpone cheese

1 ball buffalo mozzarella cheese, cut into 24 pieces (1/4 inch cubes)

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp fresh or dried oregano, finely chopped

1 Tbsp lemon juice

½ cup flour

3 large eggs, beaten

2 cups panko

Favourite marinara sauce for serving

Extra parmesan for topping

Fresh parsley for garnish

Directions:

Heat the chicken broth in the microwave or on stove top.

In a large pot, heat the oil and saute the onion for 3 minutes.

Add in the rice and stir to coat. Add 1 cup of hot broth, stirring constantly until most of liquid is absorbed.

Add 1 cup of  hot broth at a time, waiting each time for most of the liquid to be absorbed – about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and mix in the parmesan cheese, mascarpone, oregano, lemon juice and salt, until well blended. Let cool.

In the meantime, in one bowl put the flour. In a second bowl, beat the eggs. In a third bowl, put the panko.

When rice is warm, take some rice and wrap it around a piece of the mozzarella to form a ball – it should be a bit larger than a golf ball.

Roll the ball in the flour, then dip in the egg, and then roll in panko.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Keep making balls and placing on sheet, so they are about an inch apart. These can be frozen if again, kept apart and with parchment between layers.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes if thawed and 30-35 minutes if frozen.

Serve with hot marinara sauce, topped with extra parmesan and a sprinkle of parsley!