It’s been a tradition in my home for the past five years or so—the Johnny Meatball house turns into the Johnny Riceball house when Super Bowl Sunday arrives.

My Italian lineage is traced to the mainland, and “arancine” (riceballs) are mainly a Sicilian delicacy, so I never ate them growing up at home—I only had them at pizzerias or the feasts.

The first time I cooked them, I followed a somewhat non-traditional idea I learned from a paisan who runs a local deli in my area which included using diced-up pieces of fried prosciutto or ham, as opposed to the usual chopped meat. It took some time to perfect the recipe, and making these crispy balls of deliciousness are a serious, time-consuming project. You have to boil the rice, mix in all the other ingredients with the rice, then let the mixture set-up in the fridge or freezer, then you roll them, then you gotta do the whole flour-egg-breadcrumb thing ...and then you have to fry them. Worth every step!

When I first cooked these, it was during the holidays, and I found that I wasn’t able to prepare anything else. So I thought to myself, what is a good time to make them, that wasn’t a holiday but still a festive day? Bingo, Super Bowl Riceballs became my yearly February routine. I usually make around two or three dozen, they serve as a perfect living room food and there’s always some left that I give to my friends and family who didn’t come over for the big game.

Each year, I tweak the recipe and change things up a bit. For example, in honor of the Green Bay Packers playing last year, I incorporated Wisconsin extra sharp cheddar as one of the cheeses inside. Someone suggested I shape them into footballs—I may give that a shot with a few. Maybe I will color them blue somehow for Big Blue? Hmmm…we’ll see. For Super Bowl 46, here is the recipe that I will be using which is calculated for about a dozen, so just repeat the steps to make more…

Enjoy your parties and goooooooooooooooo Giants!