Arancini ai formaggi - deep-fried, risotto balls with melting cheese middle

Name: Arancini ai formaggi - deep-fried, risotto balls with melting cheese middle
Yield: 8 large / 16 small
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 300 g Arborio rice; 200 g mix of mozzarella and pecorino cheese, cubed; 50 g grated Parmesan; 2 beaten eggs; Plain flour; Breadcrumbs - Panko are good; Rapeseed oil for frying; 50 g butter cubed; Salt & Pepper; Pinch English mustard powder

SicilianDonkey @cook_11810210

Bristol

Arancini (means “little oranges”) and describes my favourite street food in my native Sicily. Arancini are deep-fried risotto balls with a melting middle of some type of sauce and stringy cheese. Often sold from takeaway places, arancini are a portable meal much like the British Cornish pasty.

In the UK, I often make smaller ones as canapes - a Sicilian arancino would be bigger than those. As always with Italian food, there are regional variations in the filling. It is a food that is perfect for leftovers – a way to use up risotto and chopped up eftover roast meat and vegetables. The two main varieties are either filled with ragu or cheese. The rice balls are moulded into shape by hand, coated in flour and egg and dipped in breadcrumbs and fried until crispy.

SicilianDonkey @cook_11810210

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Ingredients

8 large / 16 small

300 gArborio rice
200 gmix of mozzarella and pecorino cheese, cubed
50 ggrated Parmesan
2beaten eggs
Plain flour
Breadcrumbs - Panko are good
Rapeseed oil for frying
50 gbutter cubed
Salt & Pepper
PinchEnglish mustard powder

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Steps

1

Pre-heat oven to 220C Cook the rice in boiling water for 12 minutes until al dente. Do not stir as you would a risotto, as you want the starch to help keep the rice ‘sticky’. Drain the rice and leave to cool – spread flat on baking parchment on a baking tray. Mix the mozzarella, mustard powder, Parmesan and pepper.
2

Divide rice into 8 equal-sized amounts. Keep a bowl of water nearby and wet your hands. Take a bit of rice and mould it in the cup of your other hand (about 2cm thick). Place some of the cheese mix and one cube of butter in the centre and close your hand to make a ball, filling in with extra rice as needed. Once all the filling is no longer exposed you can gently shape the ball. Repeat with the remaining rice until you have 8 balls / 16 canapé-sized balls.
3

Season beaten eggs with salt and pepper and gently roll the ball first in seasoned flour, then in the egg wash. Next coat the balls in breadcrumbs.
4

Heat oil to 170C and deep fry arancini in batches until golden. Warm in oven for 8-10 minutes to be sure you have a nice, gooey melting middle and serve immediately.
5

When you feel confident you can experiment with all different combinations. In Pisa I saw amazing ones with squid ink risotto and prawn fillings
6

Arancini con Asparagi e Porcini is a rich, satisfying vegetarian option made with wild mushrooms and asparagus. Fusion varieties are also possible: my Thai Prawn Arancini fused squid ink risotto with spicy Thai red curry filling served with a sweet chilli dipping sauce, it is delicious but would be heartily disapproved of in my home country!
7

Il Ambassadore is a sweet Arancini made with a melting chocolate and hazelnut filling, like a Ferrero Rocher!