Arancini

[JosephB]

Doc,

As I think back to last Saturday, it occurs to me that you did not fully submerge the arancine when you fried them. I don't do a lot of deep frying, but it seems to me that deep frying the arancine would have helped them hold together. Does anyone think that this may have been a factor? In any event, your preparation was delicious.

[docsconz]

The problem is they were fragile even before the frying. My previous experience with them is that they have not usually been that fragile.

They did taste good. I feel good about that, but they should have been easier to handle.

[vesnuccia]

Which shape: round or cone? Which stuffing? Saffron, yes or no?

round for "white" filling (mozzarela), cone for "red" filling(ragu')

saffron - yes just for cone one and in the east coast sicily :-) no for the rest

kisses

[docsconz]

Vesnuccia,

Welcome to eGullet! My experience in Sicily and New York is round with ragu. In fact, I don't have much experience with other shapes at all. Is there a particular reason why you make the suggestions you do?

[vesnuccia]

in est coast sicily they use two different shapes to distinguish the red filled ones with white filled ones

i just thought that i could say mine experiance of it

i'm not sicilian but i have worked a long in a sicilian restourant here in italy

even in the publicity of a local fair of the arancino in Acicastello they design it in a cone mode

Acicastello is near Taormina

if I misunderstood the forum I'm sorry and I wont post more of my expiriance

[docsconz]

Please continue to post your experience - you misunderstood nothing when you posted initially. iIjust wish to know if there are particular reasons why one shape may be preferable to another for particular fillings. It is precisely your experience that I would like to learn from. Post on!

[katiaANDronald]

All this talk of arancini made us nostalgic and although they are not our typical summer fair we had some last night, from Cappelo on the road Modica from Ispica (anyway the night was particularly fresh so it kind of worked out ok ) Cone shaped, minced meat, piseli and egg inside. Picture below.

[docsconz]

Now those don't look fragile! They look phenomenal. Someday maybe I'll be able to make them like that. I bet they even tasted great too.

[JosephB]

I'm looking forward to another trip to Sicily in September, and to sharing my on the ground arancini experiences with ya'll.

[albiston]

in est coast sicily they use two different shapes to distinguish the red filled ones with white filled ones

The same is true in Naples, where arancine are one of the many food items imported from Sicily during the times of the Regno delle due Sicilie.

I always wondered where the cone shape comes from, since, according to some writers, the round shape is probably the original one. It makes sense to me. After all arancine means little oranges, and I've never seen pyramid shaped oranges in my life.

[Katherine]

Not that it's remotely authentic, but I make rice balls from Japanese-style rice. It's structurally sound, even if you wrap it around a hard-boiled egg. Plus, it's easy to work with.

But I'm not Italian, so everything I make is by definition inauthentic.

Fusion. Yum.

[docsconz]

Even traditional arancine are fusion food- just that it was fused a long time ago.

[gfweb]

I've been following various seemingly legit recipes and have made nothing edible. The balls fall apart as I'm breading them and those that survive don't have a nice coating.

Anyone have an idiot proof recipe?

[nickrey]

It sounds like your risotto is not cooked appropriately to enable you to make them. Risotto is prepared and served fresh because when it cools it sticks together and is not reheatable as a presentable meal. Hence Arancini.

So first start off with leftover risotto, which should be sticking together well when cold.

Wet your hands. Take a golfball sized piece and push into it with your thumb to make a hole into which to place a small piece of Mozzarella. Then close over the hole such that the cheese is in the middle.

I use three plates. The first has seasoned all purpose flour. The second a well mixed egg. The third has breadcrumbs.

Roll your ball in the seasoned flour until covered. Shake off excess. Roll in the egg until coated. Then roll in breadcrumbs until covered. At this stage these can be kept in the fridge until ready for cooking.

Heat oil in a deep fryer to 180C. Gently add crumbed risotto. Cook until golden brown. Serve and enjoy.

Edited January 5, 2013 by nickrey (log)

[Mjx]

nickrey's very comprehensive reply got me wondering what sort of rice are you using. Regardless of the recipe, if you're using a lower-starch rice, the arancini won't hold together.

[gfweb]

Thanks Nick and Mjx. I was using long grain white rice, which the recipes said was OK. Clearly it wasn't. I'll get some arborio!

[gfweb]

Mission accomplished. Arancini turned out great when I used the arborio.

[nickrey]

Congratulations. Now for the exploration of variations...

[gfweb]

Any suggestions?

[bague25]

I love the original ones, but also a stuffing of mozzarella/pesto

[basquecook]

I made an asparagus arancini. Basically, mixed a puree of asparagus into the risotto at the end. Then added parm. let it cool, added a piece of mozzarella and fried. then sat the three mini arancini on a smear of bearnaise sauce as a sort of appetizer.

I had been thinking about freezing squares of béarnaise and added them to the center of the arancini with the mozzarella so the sauce oozes out but, have not come around to it. Will be experimenting with it in the spring.

Edited January 7, 2013 by basquecook (log)

[nickrey]

Variants can come from the risotto used (eg use saffron risotto for gold filling squid ink for black, etc). You can also vary the centre by enclosing meat with ragu, or mushroom, or bernaise or bechamel. With any runny filling, I'd do what the Chinese do with their liquid dumplings and thicken it with gelatin so that it is malleable when cold and melts when hot.

[lindag]

I'm so intrigued by this recipe.

It sounds fantastic if a little labor-intensive for the likes of me.

Is it as good as it looks?

 

 

[kayb]

I love arancini. Have never been brave enough to try them.

[ElsieD]

I've made arancini and love them.  I usually just used leftover risotto and stuff the cheese in there, bread them and fry them.  We devour them using marinara sauce to dip them in.