Christmas it’s a special time of the year, full of celebrations and food. Delicatesses from different parts of the world find space in our houses and often take us back to our childhood bringing us special flavors and smells. We fill our houses with friends and family and then connect with unique cultures through the food. And you can’t say that you love a country if you don’t love their cuisine!
Today I want to teach you how to make a unique Sicilian party food which is becoming increasingly famous everywhere also in UK as street food. A food loved by everybody, children and adults: the ‘arancine’.
For those who love the origin of the food, they go back to the Arab domination in Sicily, from the IX to the XI century and has since dominated our tables for many occasions. It is a bit laborious, but is definitely worth and I still make them every year on some special occasions.
For those who love the etymology, the name is taken from the orange fruit. ‘Arancina’ is a small orange.
In any case, it’s a perfect way to bring a bit of Sicily here in UK and to surprise friends with something unique.
Let’s start! And I’ll try to simplify the process. There are three main steps: the preparation of the ragu’, making the rice balls and fry them. To give you an idea of the numbers, with 1Kg of rice, you can make approximately 30 arancine.
Ingredients for the rice and coating:
– 500 g di rice carnaroli.
– 70 gr butter
– 1gr saffron
– salt
– 8 spoons of flour
– 1 or 2 eggs
– breadcrumbs as needed
-sunflower oil to fry
Ingredients for the ragu’:
– 150 g pork mince
– 50 g beef mince
– half onion finely chopped
– half carrot
– celery
– olive oil
– 200 ml tomato passata
– 100 g peas
– 125ml white wine
– 80 g parmesan
– salt
– Black pepper
Method:
Step 1: Prepare the ragu’
Fry in a pot onion, carrot and celery with some olive oil. When soft, add the mince meats. Leave it for a couple of minutes until brown and then add the wine. When ready, add the tomato passata, salt and black pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer it for approximately 25 minutes. Add the peas and simmer for another 25 minutes. When the ragu’ is thickened, check salt and black pepper and leave it to cool.
Step 2: Prepare the rice balls
In a large saucepan cook the rice “al dente”. Drain the rice and put it back in the saucepan adding butter, parmesan and saffron. Leave it to cool.
When ready to be handled, place some of the rice in your cupped hand, put in the middle a teaspoon of ragu’, take more rice to cover your cupped hand and make a ball making sure that is fully sealed with rice. Place in a plate and continue to make the next rice ball until all the rice is finished. You should be able to make approximately 30 arancini. Put them aside and prepare for the coating.
Step 3: Coating and frying
Prepare three bowls and follow this order. In the first put the flour, in the second a beaten egg and in the third the breadcrumbs. If you follow this order, the coating will be perfect!
Dip the balls first in the flour, then in the egg and finally in the breadcrumbs, making sure that they are completely coated.
Leave them to chill for half an hour or you can leave them overnight in the fridge.
Preheat a deep fryer and check if the oil is hot. When ready, deep the rice balls for a few minutes until golden brown and transfer them in a kitchen paper to drain.
Must be served when hot.
The photos below illustrate when ready to be fried, when are fried golden brown and when split in half to see the inside.
Enjoy them and Happy Christmas!