GORDON RAMSAY RECIPES

These mini baked Italian rice balls are made with brown rice, chicken sausage, spinach and mozzarella cheese. Served with some warm marinara sauce, they make the perfect finger foods for the Holiday season or any time you want to serve appetizers.

The Holidays are right around the corner, so this week I am sharing Holiday recipes to get you in the spirit. I don’t know about you, but I love Italian rice balls. They are often deep fried and high in calories so I typically stay away unless I’m making this Sicilian Rice Ball Casserole^[1] which turns rice balls into a meal!

I came across a recipe from the Baby&Toddler on the Go Cookbook^[2] (which btw is such a great book for feeding young kids) for mini baked brown rice aranci, and adapted them with adult palates in mind and more of the flavors I typically like in a rice ball. This recipe cuts a substantial amount of fat by baking instead of frying and replaces the white rice with brown – but you still get plenty of flavor from the sausage and Pecorino Romano cheese.

You can make the filling ahead of time, roll them into balls and refrigerate until you are ready to bake them. I would bread them just before baking.

Baked Mini Spinach and Sausage Arancini
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 11 • Size: 2 rice balls • Old Points: 2 pts • Points+: 2 pts
Calories: 89 • Fat: 3 g • Protein: 5 g • Carb: 11 g • Fiber: 1 g • Sugar: 1 g
Sodium: 254 mg • Cholesterol: 27 mg

Ingredients:

1 Italian chicken (or turkey) sausage link, removed from casing
cooking spray
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 large egg and 1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup cooked brown rice, hot
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup chopped spinach
1 large egg white
3 tbsp Pecorino Romano
2 tbsp quick marinara sauce^[3], plus more for serving

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400° F. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray.

Place the flour, beaten egg and egg white, and bread crumbs in separate bowls.

Cook the sausage in a small saute pan, breaking it up as it cooks until cooked through. Set aside to cool then place in a small chopper to mince.

In a medium bowl, combine the rice, sausage, mozzarella, spinach, egg white, pecorino romano cheese, and 2 tbsp marinara sauce mixing well. Roll about 1 heaping tablespoon of the rice mixture into a round ball.

Roll the ball in the flour, then the egg, and then the bread crumbs, shaking off any excess at each step. Place the breaded rice ball on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining rice mixture until it has all been used up.

Bake the balls for 8 minutes, turn over, and bake for another 8 minutes, until they are a crisp golden brown. Let the rice balls cool before serving, and serve with hot marinara^[4] sauce for dipping.

Makes 22 balls.

References

^{^} Sicilian Rice Ball Casserole (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} Baby&Toddler on the Go Cookbook (www.amazon.com)
^{^} quick marinara sauce (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)
^{^} marinara (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

This simple savory stuffed acorn squash is easy to make and filled with the wonderful flavors of Fall. The stuffing is made with farro, chicken sausage, mushrooms, celery, onions and sage – you’ll love this!

It doesn’t get easier than this: simply halve and hollow out acorn
squash, then season with salt and roast in the oven. Nothing like
warming up the kitchen on a blistery night with baked squash in the
oven. While that bakes make the stuffing on the stove, then when the
squash is ready fill it with the stuffing and serve – the results are a
soft, flavorful squash filled with savory goodness!

In the Fall I love preparing squash, whether it’s butternut, pumpkin, spaghetti, or acorn and I’m always looking for great new ways to prepare it. I recently had a stuffed acorn squash at a restaurant that was pretty good, but in the back of my mind I kept thinking it would taste so much better with this farro stuffing, which I LOVE! This stuffing is an adaptation of this brown rice and sausage stuffing^[1], which you could of course use instead of farro. I’ve also made it with barley and it was wonderful.

Farro is my favorite new grain – I love it’s chewy, nutty texture which holds
up perfectly in this stuffing, but farro does contain gluten so if you want to make this gluten-free, swap it out for brown rice. This is perfect for a weeknight meal, but would also make a nice addition to your Thanksgiving table. Simply eat with a spoon to scoop out all the wonderful squash with the stuffing in every bite – enjoy!

Farro and Sausage Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash
gordon-ramsay-recipe.com
Servings: 6 • Size: 1/2 squash 1/2 cup stuffing • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 213 • Fat: 5 g • Protein: 10 g • Carb: 37 g • Fiber: 6 g • Sugar: 0 g
Sodium: 272 mg (without salt) • Cholesterol: 0 mg
Ingredients:

3 acorn squash, cut in half, seeds and fibers removed
olive oil spray (I used my mister)
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/2 cup uncooked pearled farro, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 links raw sweet Italian chicken sausage
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
4 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
2 sage leaves, chopped
parsley, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Mist the cut side of squash with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place in a baking dish and add 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the pan. Cover and bake 50 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before serving.

Meanwhile, cook farro in chicken broth according to package directions.

While the farro is cooking, in a large saute pan cook chicken sausage on medium heat, breaking up the meat into small pieces as it cooks until the sausage is cooked through and is browned. Set aside on a dish.

Add olive oil to the pan and add the onion, sauté 1 minute, add the celery, salt and pepper to taste; cook until celery is soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Add the mushrooms and sage to the pan, more salt and pepper if needed and cook, stirring 5 minutes, then cook covered for 2 minutes, or until the mushrooms have released their juice and are cooked through. Return the cooled sausage and the cooked farro to the sauté pan and mix well.

Divide the farro stuffing evenly between the roasted acorn squash, garnish with parsley and serve.

References

^{^} brown rice and sausage stuffing (www.gordon-ramsay-recipe.com)

Tag: chicken sausage

Baked Mini Spinach and Sausage Arancini

References

Farro and Sausage Stuffed Roasted Acorn Squash

References

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