O.K. I think you're really going to really enjoy this one. it's a little trickier, but completely worth it. I first had these rice balls, or Suppli al Telefono at a neighborhood Italian deli here in San Francisco's North Beach. I usually just order their gourmet sandwiches for lunch, but today I saw these beautiful, golden nuggets sitting in a rich tomato sauce. Well, I couldn't help but get a few of them. After about a half on one, my belt came undone, I took a nap and was unproductive the rest of the day, but man was it worth it. I dissected the other to figure out all the ingredients and came up with as reasonable a facsimile as I could.

3/4 cup dried porcini or mixed wild mushrooms

2 tbs. tomato paste

3 cups beef stock

1 32 oz. can of peeled tomatoes (juice included)

3-4 tbs. butter (Cholesterol be damned!)

2 big cups of arborio rice

2 eggs

2/3 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano(you've gone this far, go for the fresh stuff not the packaged kind)

1 onion, diced finely

2 ounces prosciutto, chopped pretty finely

4 ounces fresh mozzarella, diced into fine squares (again, go for the really good balls of mozzarella, not pre-chopped)

3/4 or 1 cup of unseasoned bread crumbs

3 cups extra virgin olive oil

O.K. lets get going. First, you're going to want to soak the mushrooms in water for 15-20 minutes or until they're easy to cut. Reserve the mushroom water and finely dice the mushrooms.

In a heavy bottomed stock pan, mix the beef stock, crushed tomatoes and 3 tablespoons of butter. Bring all that up to a boil. Your kitchen should be smelling like an angels sweat at this point. Sorry, that was the best analogy I could think of. Gradually add the rice until its been submerged. Bring it back up to a boil and then drop the heat down to allow the rice to simmer. Stir it every 10 minutes or so until the rice is fork tender. Note: I noticed that I had very little of my liquid/tomato concoction left, so if this happens don't be afraid to add more tomato sauce or more liquid. Set the rice aside in a large mixing bowl and stir in the eggs until they're fully integrated into the rice.

In a 12-14 inch saute pan, melt whatever butter you have left and again, butter is not your enemy as you may have been led to believe. Actually, there is a lot of butter in this, so yeah maybe have your cholesterol pills handy or atleast a phone close by to dial 911. Add the onion and prosciutto and cook over high heat 3-5 minutes. Add the ground beef until browned. Add the mushrooms and their water, plus the tomato paste and dashes of salt and pepper. Let all this simmer until it's making all the dogs in the neighborhood salivate. With a large spoon, make egg-shaped portions of the rice. Make an indentation in the middle of each one. Note: I find it easier to make the rice balls by wetting your hands a bit. Place about a teaspoon of the meat filling in each rice ball as well as a little of the cubes of mozzarella. Note: The size of the rice balls is completely up to you. I made huge ones the size of softballs, but anything like a tennis ball or a misshapen leprechauns head would be fine. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs and saute them in a nice heavy bottomed skillet with the oil for around five minutes each. Place them on a tray covered with paper towels to dry and top them with the tomato sauce and fresh parmesan cheese. Mmmmm.