The arancini, or rice croquettes, are the culinary pride of Sicily… follow with us the recipe and you’ll see they are worth the effort! Find this and many more recipes on the Giallozafferano App in English http://itunes.apple.com/app/giallozafferano-recipes/id384387249?mt=8
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Hi GialloZafferano viewers and welcome to our kitchen. Today we’ll make a virtual journey to Sicily to prepare the most famous timbale of this island: the arancini, that are rice croquettes. You can find them in several versions, with different shapes and fillings: this is our suggestion.
Let’s see together the ingredients:
To prepare the filling, we’ll need:
• 5,3 oz (150 g) of minced meat, which can be pork, beef, or mixed
• 2,8 oz (80 g) of frozen or fresh peas
• 5,3 oz (150 g) of fresh cheese, such as provola or mozzarella
• Pepper /olive oil
• Less than 3 tbsp (40 g) of tomato paste
• ½ cup (100 ml) of red wine
• ½ onion
• Less than 2 tbsp (25 g) of butter With regard to the rice, or risotto, we’ll need:
• 2 ¾ cups (500 g) of superfine rice, or a type of rice with a round-shaped grain, ideal for timbales
• 3 yolks
• 1 sachet of saffron
• 2 tbsp (30 g) of butter
• Just under ½ cup (100 g) of grated cheese, which can be pecorino, grana, Parmesan or mixed
• Some salt
Finally, for breading our rice croquettes we’ll need:
• 2 eggs / breadcrumbs and peanut seed oil for frying
Now let’s see how to make the rice croquettes:
Begin by boiling the rice; I’ve poured 5 cups of water in a pot, I’ve brought it to a boil, I’ve added salt and then the rice. I prefer to cook the rice in a small quantity of water so that it won’t lose the starch; in this way, the rice will dry out maintaining its starch content, which will make the croquettes stick together better. If you’ll need some more water during this cooking process, you can keep a small saucepan on the heat and add it little by little until the rice is dry and cooked.
In another pot I’ve put some oil, the butter, the onion, and after browning I’ve added the minced meat; once the meat has browned, add the red wine… and let it evaporate completely; after that add the tomato paste melted in a glass of water, and let it simmer for about 15 minutes on a low flame, so that the meat cooks evenly and the sauce thickens; you can add salt and pepper.
While waiting, you can cook the peas in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of oil and some hot water, add salt and cook them so that they remain crispy.
15 min — low heat
As you can see, the rice has absorbed all the water, it’s become sticky because it didn’t lose the starch content, and there’s no need to drain it, so add the butter… blending it well… and all the other ingredients: the saffron, which you can melt in a very small quantity of water, or add to the 2 yolks… stir the rice, to make the saffron blend well… of course, you have to remove it from the heat… then add the 2 yolks… and finally the grated cheese. Now blend well all the ingredients, after that pour the rice on a large shallow plate, and let it cool down.
Finally everything’s ready to prepare the rice croquettes: in this bowl there is our ragout with peas; here is our diced cheese; the rice we have flattened on a large shallow plate so that it can cool down better; the breadcrumbs and the whisked eggs. All we have to do now is make our croquettes.
The rice is now cold and dry, so we can begin to make our croquettes; if it’s too sticky, dampen your hand with water, so that it will be easier to work them: flatten a small quantity of rice on the plate… shape it into a circle in your hand (the layer of rice should be quite thin)… in this way… shape your hand into a cup and spoon some ragout with peas in the centre… a couple of cheese dices, or more if you want… now flatten some more rice and coat everything… in this way… now form it into a small, sealed ball… if you prefer you can shape it into an oval or a pear… here it is.
Now dip your croquette in the eggs and then roll it in the breadcrumbs… we are ready to fry it.
Let’s begin to fry our croquettes: heat the oil to 350°F and use a slotted ladle not to get burnt; fry two at any one time if you want to use less oil, otherwise use a fryer.
And, after frying, here are the arancini which can be round or pear-shaped.
From Sonia and GialloZafferano, bye and see you next videorecipe!