If you’re like me and enjoy competition cooking shows, you’ve probably seen your fair share of contestants completely undone by risotto.

It’s usually undercooked because the chef started too late, and honestly, who wants to eat semi-crunchy—rather than perfectly al dente—rice?

Not me.

But before you decide that you couldn’t possibly make risotto at home, the foundation for the arancini pictured here, I promise it’s easy if you’re patient. This is my favorite risotto recipe.  The rice needs a bit of babying so you’re stirring pretty frequently, but aside from attention, it’s a pretty straightforward dish that looks/tastes impressive.

For the arancini, I went ahead and omitted the butternut squash because it won’t roll into a ball nearly as well. Plus, we’re adding a cube of fresh mozzarella to the middle of the rice balls for the more irresistible cheese pull (!!!), so you don’t need to invite squash to the party.

If you’re serving arancini at a party—book club in my case—you can make the risotto the night before and cool it on a sheet pan in the fridge overnight. Then the next day you’re scooping, stuffing, and eventually, frying, the rice balls.

For whatever reason I didn’t plan ahead and did all of this the same day. Which was significantly more time-consuming because the risotto does really have to cool down before you can begin.

Side note: There’s an episode of Beat Bobby Flay where Bobby is challenged by a restaurant pro to make arancini in 45 minutes. They did not make the risotto ahead of time, so I have zero idea how both chefs finished the arancini when the bell rang. It took me six hours from start to finish, including the risotto cooling time, so now I’m sort of mad at Bobby for giving the illusion it can happen that quickly. Good thing these little suckers taste SO good; and as a bonus, remind me of when I first tried them at a street market in Rome.

Here’s the step-by-step guidance I used to make the arancini. And don’t be afraid of deep frying at home. As long as you have a thermometer attached to your Dutch oven and don’t overcrowd the pot, they’ll be little restaurant-quality delights that you can serve with your favorite marinara sauce.