Arancini

[PatsyMFagan]

Has anyone successfully made these ? If so what did you think was the best method and stuffing ?

I find myself playing host to 9 others on Sunday for afternoon tea and thought these would go down well Ham/pork is out

[StokeySue]

I've never made them, but my experience is that there's usually a nugget of mozzarella in the middle, if it's meaty it's in the form of ragu

The texture of the mozzarella is good

[scullion]

i've made them.
i make a very mushroomy risotto and put it in the fridge until the next day (they are often made with leftover risotto but i make it especially for the arancini).
the next day it will have solidified enough to be able to take a lump out, make a cup, put a lump of mozzarella in and close the risotto round it.
when you've used it all up wash your hands and prepare your plates of coatings.
using one hand roll the ball in flour, remove the ball with that hand and put it in beaten egg. use the other hand to roll it in the egg and with that hand put it in the breadcrumbs.
cover it with breadcrumbs with the first (un-eggy) hand before you roll it around in them. place it on a plate ready to fry
doing it this way you should be able to keep all the coating on the arancini rather than have it all over both hands in a sticky mess.
fry until golden brown.
it's very easy to make them rather large (been there, done that) so keep an eye on the size of the lump of risotto you start off with.
it's the best way to eat risotto if you ask me!

[Seatallan]

[Herbidacious]

[Pepper Pig]

Me too Herbi.

Felicity Cloake’s had a go at them Pat.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... rice-balls

[StokeySue]

Interesting - I've clearly been eating some uninspired arancini

[scullion]

i think i'll stick to my version.

they're pretty quick and easy to make - and well worth it.
i know you don't like deep frying, herbi but i suppose, if you flatten them to discs you could get away with shallow-ish frying them. i suppose you could also spray them with oil and bake them in the oven. it won't be the same but better than not making them at all.

[PatsyMFagan]

I like the sound of Scully's ones ( ) as I already have some mushrooms to use up.

[StokeySue]

I first encountered arancini in Naples, as a student travelling on inter-rail
They were orange sized, about the size of a blood orange, slightly orange coloured, the rice was well-seasoned but otherwise fairly plain, and they were well within a student budget. Yum. There wasn't a lot of stuffing, I think that's a rich person's thing. Just a touch to make it worth working your way to the middle,

[scullion]

[scullion]

there's a mozambique version called - i suppose many places have their own stuffed rice ball version.

[wargarden]

in japan they stuff them with tuna

[scullion]

i'm sure i've had some sweet japanese ones stuffed with sesame paste, too - but i don't think they were deep fried.

[karadekoolaid]

I dithered about what to eat for lunch today... Eventually I decided to make a risotto. I made extra, so that tomorrow I can have a go at Arancini. Should be fun!

[scullion]

not made them before‽

[PatsyMFagan]

I got as far as forming the filled balls on Sunday, before the tea party that was the whole point of making them got cancelled due to the bad weather. They are now in the freezer - did this before the egg and crumb coating (along with the bag of bread crumbs) I am hoping that they will still be safe to finish off and present at a later date...

[scullion]

i'm sure they will.

[PatsyMFagan]

Remember this thread ? As we are now all aware, life has changed drastically in the last couple of weeks so the promised tea party won't now take place.

Yesterday I went to my freezer and found a bag of what I thought were bird fat balls (Daughter had been making her own) ... I nearly brought the whole bag out to fill the feeders, then remembered what they were.

I took a couple out this morning to de-frost and try egging and bread-crumbing ... but they instantly fell apart. However a bit of massaging with semolina then egg and crumbs have converted them to look more like rissoles ..

I then took another 2 out of the freezer and finished them off while still frozen.

The de-frosted ones have been put in a shallow tray with hot oil, while the frozen ones were simply put on a baking tray, They were all put into a hot oven. After 15 minutes, the de-frosted ones needed to be turned, the frozen ones just turning colour . Another few minutes and the de-frosted ones will be ready for sampling - the others will need longer I know

Fingers crossed