Arancini

Arancini probably originated in 10th-century Sicily when the island was under Arab rule.  In Palermo and Trapani, arancini are a traditional food for the feast of Santa Lucia on December 13th when Sicilians don't eat bread or pasta. This commemorates arrival of a grain ship on Santa Lucia's day in 1646, relieving a severe famine.  Today arancini are found year round at Sicilian cafés and special arancini shops, particularly in Palermo.  The most common arancini are con ragù with a filling of ragù, a piece of boiled egg, and a few cubes of ragusano. The dish is often made using rice from leftover risotto.  The rice originated as short grain rice imported from Japan and is known as riso originario of which arborio is a superfino hybrid.

So let's make 4 arancini.  Starting with the rice, for 400g of rice you will need 50g butter, 4g saffron, 1 small onion minced, and 1/2  cup grated caciocavallo or parmesan cheese.  Cook as for a risotto, I really don't need to tell you how to do this, and spread the rice out on a sheet pan to cool.  

Now for the ragù, for 100 g each of ground beef and pork, you will need a small onion, 1 carrot, 1 rib of celery, 3 Tbs. olive oil, 1/2 cup of red wine, 100 g peas, 100 g tomato sauce, and 1 Tbs. tomato paste. Finely chop the onion, carrot and celery.  Sauté the onion in the oil for a couple of minutes just to soften the onions.  Add the meats and continue to sauté until the meat changes color.  Add the tomato paste and briefly sauté.  Add the wine and cook until the alcohol has evaporated.  Add the tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on a moderate fire for 10 minutes then add the peas and cook for another 20 minutes.  If you're using frozen peas add them 5 minutes from the end of cooking.  Let the ragù cool. 

Now it's time to assemble the arancini.  You will need 100 g fresh ragusano or provolone cut into 1 cm cubes and 1 hard-boiled egg cut into 4 pieces. We also need some pastella made from 2 T water mixed with 1 T flour and fine dry breadcrumbs.  Take 1/4 of the rice in your hand and form it into a shallow cup.  

Add a spoon of the sauce, a piece of egg, and 2 or 3 cubes of cheese.  Be careful to not over fill it.  Now close it up with both hands forming a ball.  Coat the ball with the pastella.  This helps the breadcrumbs stick.  Now liberally coat the arancini in breadcrumbs.  Fry them a few at a time in hot (375º F) oil until they turn a rich golden brown.  There must be enough oil so that they are completely covered.  Set them in a warm oven for about 10 minutes to dry before serving.  Mangia bene!