Typical Italian Food Arancini - simply the best Sicilian street food

by: Amanda

Because you can never have too many, this recipe makes 18 or 20 bite sized

Having an Italian around the house is always helpful when having to whip up pasta or make risotto. So here is Gianni’s tips and tricks to making the best Italian rice.

For the rice:

1 kg or 2 pounds Italian Rice (arborio, carnaroli, roma, risotto di vialone nano)

2 liter or 8 cups vegetable broth

Saffron (optional)

For the filling you will need:

2 cups Ragù or my Bolognese 

1/2 cup provola cheese chopped into small pieces if you cannot find provola, provolone or mozzarella is fine too

if you would like some peas like a half a cup mixed into the ragù 

For the egg wash

4 - 6 eggs

1 cup flour

1 1/2 cup bread crumbs

For the Frying

2 liters or 8 cups of sunflower oil

Prepare the rice - you can make this the day before

In a pot add the broth, saffron if you are adding it, and salt. Let boil, then add the rice, cover and adjust the heat to low. Allow to cook for 10-15 minutes until the liquid has absorbed and the rice is cooked to al dente.  Set aside.

Prepare the Ragù or Bolognese:

For Gianni’s Ragù you will need, 1 small onion chopped, 1 carrot chopped, 1 celery stalk chopped, 2 bay leafs, 1/2 LB ground beef, 1/2 LB ground pork, 1/2 cup white wine, 2 tablespoons tomato concentrate, 1/2 cup peas (optional), salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan add one tablespoon EVOO and cook onion until translucent, then add the chopped carrots and celery and mix until tender. Then you will add the bay leaf, ground beef and pork and cook until the juices evaporate. After add the white wine, tomato concentrate, peas, salt and pepper and cook until wine evaporates. You can let simmer for an additional half hour or you can use right away after the wine evaporates. 

Now for the tricky part, how to form your arancini!

Wet your hands in water and in the palm of you hand take a spoonful of rice, pat it down to make like a bowl then add some ragù and sprinkle in some cheese pieces. Cover with rice and mold together with both hands until a cone form. Making sure that the filling is not coming out or showing, that you have a good rice wall to keep inside all these yummy ingredients. Set the arancini aside on a plate until the next step.

Once you have made all your arancini you will then want to give them the egg bath. Beat together your eggs if you would like to use less eggs you can use 4 and add a 1/4 cup of water. 

Take and dip you arancini in flour, then the egg mixture, then the breadcrumbs.

Place on a plate aside until you have done this step to all your arancini. 

After they are ready to be deep fried. We recommend sunflower oil as it is light and leaves no oil flavor. 

Place your oil in a deep pan and wait until the temperature reads 190°C or 375°F, then one at a time add your arancini to the oil making sure all sides cook evenly. Place on an oven proof dish covered in paper towel to absorb any extra oil. 

If you are not eating them immediately you can place in the oven at a low heat of 100°C or 215°F until you are ready to serve, but not for too long as you don’t want them to dry out. 

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