Florida Spiny Lobster Arancini

Florida Spiny Lobster Arancini

This recipe is another great way to stretch the yield of your Florida Spiny Lobsters. Since you can use head, knuckle, and leg cluster meat, as I’ve done in previous recipes, this can be another meal you can make exclusively with parts of the lobster that are commonly thrown away. For this one, however, I chose to use tail meat, simply because I had already used the other parts of the lobster for a different recipe.

This recipe assumes that you already have lobster broth on hand, but if you don’t, you can reference my Spiny Lobster Knuckle Head Soup recipe that shows you how easy it is to make a broth. There are many different ways to make broths with lobster, but the key point is only cooking the shells for about 45 minutes. Any more than that and you’ll end up with a bitter liquid.

How I Got The Lobster For This Recipe

This was actually my last lobster haul of the 2024-2025 Florida Spiny Lobster season. I went spearfishing off of Dania Beach and ended up getting 4 total; 2 male and 2 female. I had originally thought about freezing the tails and doing something with them later, but I decided to use them all fresh.

I ended up making 4 different meals for Brittany and I out of these 4 lobsters, which is double what using just the tails alone would have done. I’m going to make a post soon like I did for my Last Florida Keys Black Grouper, to show all of the recipes I made with my last haul of the season.

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

5 from 1 vote

Florida Spiny Lobster Arancini

by Zachery Dyke

Next time you have some leftover lobster stock, try this Florida Spiny Lobster Arancini recipe!

Pin Recipe Rate Recipe Start Cooking

Prep Time: 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Cook Time: 40 minutes mins

Total Time: 2 hours hrs

Servings: 4

Equipment

• ▢
  Shun Classic 8" Chef Knife
• ▢
  Shun Large Cutting Board
• ▢
  Small Pot With Lid
• ▢
  Large Pan
• ▢
  Large Bowl
• ▢
  Large Pot
• ▢
  Tongs
• ▢
  Serving Plate

Ingredients

US Customary | Metric

• ▢ 1 Florida Spiny Lobster Tail
• ▢ 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 Shallot
• ▢ 1½ cups Arborio Rice
• ▢ 1 cup White Wine
• ▢ 5 cups Lobster Broth
• ▢ 1 tbsp Parsley Flakes
• ▢ 1 tsp Old Bay (or to taste)
• ▢ ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream
• ▢ ¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
• ▢ Peanut Oil
• ▢ Bread Crumbs
• ▢ Fresh Mozzarella Pearls
• ▢ Marinara Sauce
• ▢ Fresh Basil (for garnish)

Instructions 

For The Lobster

• Boil or steam your lobster tail.

  NOTE: You can also use the lobster head/knuckle/leg cluster meat instead.
  1 Florida Spiny Lobster Tail
• Remove from heat and put in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.
• Remove the meat from the tail, rough chop, and set aside.

For The Risotto

• Heat your olive oil over medium/low heat. Add in your shallots and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2 tbsp Olive Oil

  1 Shallot
• Add in your rice and sauté for about 2 minutes while you stir.
  1½ cups Arborio Rice
• Add in your white wine and continue to cook the rice until most of the white wine has been absorbed. Be careful not to let the rice burn on the bottom.
  1 cup White Wine
• Add in your old bay. Mix throughly.
  1 tsp Old Bay
• Add in your lobster broth ½ to 1 cup at a time until all of the broth is absorbed. Make sure to stir occasionally. This may take around 30 minutes.
  5 cups Lobster Broth
• Once the rice is cooked through, add in your lobster meat, parsley flakes, heavy whipping cream, and grated parmesan cheese.
  1 tbsp Parsley Flakes

  ¼ cup Heavy Whipping Cream

  ¼ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

  1 Florida Spiny Lobster Tail
• Stir everything together until the parmesan cheese has melted and the rice has a nice texture.
• Remove from heat, transfer to a large bowl, cover, and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

  NOTE: You can leave it in the refrigerator overnight if you need to.

For The Arancini

• Remove the risotto from the refrigerator.
• Make your arancini balls by taking your risotto and forming a ball around a mozzarella pearl. I would aim for about the size of a golf ball. I did slightly larger ones and ended up with 12.

  NOTE: Depending on how much cheese you want you can use more than 1 mozzarella pearl per ball.
  Fresh Mozzarella Pearls
• Once you have formed your ball, roll it in your bread crumbs until evenly coated and set aside.
  Bread Crumbs
• Repeat until you have used all of the risotto.
• Heat your peanut oil to 375 °F in a pot.
  Peanut Oil
• Fry the arancini ball until golden brown. Mine took about 7-8 minutes.
• Cook in batches (if needed), until you have fried all of them.
• Garnish with basil, grated parmesan, and serve with a marinara sauce.
  Fresh Basil

  Marinara Sauce
• Enjoy!

Notes

• Try this recipe with other species such as:
  • Channel Clinging Crab
  • Slipper Lobster
  • Spanish Lobster

Tried This Recipe?Tag Us On Instagram: @SpearosKitchen