Rice Balls with a Chocolate Heart

Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

• 100 grams risotto rice
• 50 grams bitter-sweet chocolate bar, broken in pieces
• vanilla
• 1 tbs. sugar
• pinch salt
• 400 ml. (1&1/2 cups) water
• bread crumbs
• oil for frying
• 3 oranges
• 2 tsp. corn starch
• 1 tbs. sugar

Directions:

• Put the rice in a sauce pan with a spoonful of oil.
• Fry the rice a bit and then add the water and a pinch of salt.
• When the rice begins to cook and some of the water has cooked off, add 1 tablespoon of sugar and the vanilla.
• Continue cooking the rice for about 25 minutes, stirring from time to time.
• Cook the rice until it is soft and almost a smooth mass.
• Set aside and allow to cool and solidify.

• Juice 2 oranges.
• Put the juice in a saucepan.
• Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and the cornstarch and cook the orange juice.
• When the juice has thickened turn the heat down to very low.

• Make 8 ping-pong ball sized balls from the cooled rice.
• Push a chunk of broken chocolate into the center of the ball and roll smooth in your hand so that the chocolate is completely hidden and sealed.
• Coat each rice ball with bread crumbs.

• Slice the remaining orange in 8 very thin slices.
• Heat a frying pan with a bit of oil.
• Fry the orange slices gently until just golden brown.
• Clean the frying pan and add fresh oil.
• Fry the rice balls until golden brown.

To serve:

• Place a tablespoonful of the orange juice syrup on a plate.
• Place 2 slices of the grilled orange on or near the syrup, and put a rice ball on top of each orange slice.
• Two for each person.

If there is left over orange syrup you can drizzle a bit on top of the rice balls.