arancini

Posted on | January 1, 2010 | No Comments

arancini is italian for “little oranges”.
i made them to take to our italian friends’ place to see in the new year.
they are delicious little crumbed fried balls of rice/cheese/peas/saffron/herbs….well that is what i put in mine, anyway.
i’ve made millions of these tasty little brutes in my previous life as a cocktail party caterer.

you’ll need five cups of cooked arborio rice.
i like to add a generous pinch of saffron threads to the cooking water, so the rice turns yellowish and fragrant.
let the rice cool a bit.
now add a couple of beaten eggs, and 1.5 cups of mixed shredded cheeses…..i use cheddar and parmesan.
grind puh-lenty of black pepper and sea salt into the mix.
add lots of chopped fresh herbs (parsley/marjoram/oregano/chives/mint/basil….all yummy) and a few good pinches of dried mixed herbs.
add a couple of finely chopped scallions and a cup of frozen peas.
you can also add half a cup of finely diced ham….perfect for post-christmas parties!….but we are almost out of ham around here, so i didn’t do that this time.
now, feel the mixture….if it seems a little loose, add a handful or so of breadcrumbs. taste it and make sure it is salty enough. o, i like some chili flakes in there too. add to taste….or not….either way, they’ll be good.
mix it with your (clean) hands and really mash it up thoroughly.

roll the mix into balls about the size of…..a little orange! really, any size from cocktail bite sized to scotch-egg sized is just fine.
now flour them, then egg-wash them, then breadcrumb them, and set them on a tray.
refrigerate them until you are ready to deep fry them.

serve them with…..tomato relish. homemade tomato sauce. yoghurt and garlic sauce. or anything else you can dream up.
they are also pretty fabulous on their own.
serve them hot or warm or even room temperature.

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