Arancini are Sicilian street food - rice balls, stuffed, and fried until golden - and will be wonderful at parties too. These have a shrimp filling. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups rice
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano (freshly grated, not from a can)
- 1/3 pound shelled shrimp, finely diced
- 1/4 cup minced parsley
- 1/3 cup cream
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- 4 eggs
- Bread crumbs
- Flour
- Salt & pepper
- Oil for frying
- Organically grown orange leaves (optional, as garnish)
Preparation:
Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and sauté the shallot until it begins to wilt. Stir in the shrimp, cook for a minute more, and stir in the cream. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, continue cooking it over a brisk flame until it has become fairly thick, and stir in the minced parsley. Then remove the pan from the fire and let the filling cool.
While you're cooking the filling, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the rice and the curry powder. Drain the rice when it's still a little al dente and mix the remaining butter and cheese into it while it's still hot, then lightly beat two of the eggs and stir them in too.
When everything else is ready, lightly beat the remaining eggs and season them with salt and pepper. Then, preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Next, make the first arancino by taking two small handfuls of rice and shaping them into hollow hemispheres Fill the hollows with some of the meat, and some of the peas, and mold the two halves together to obtain a smooth-sided rice ball about the size of a small orange (1.5 - 2 inches in diameter). Roll the arancino in flour, dredge it in the beaten egg, roll it well in the breadcrumbs, and fry it in abundant hot oil. While it's cooking begin with the next, and when it has become a golden brown drain it on absorbent paper. When you have finished frying your arancini, heat them through in the oven for five minutes, decorate them with the orange leaves if you choose to, and serve them hot.
While you're cooking the filling, bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the rice and the curry powder. Drain the rice when it's still a little al dente and mix the remaining butter and cheese into it while it's still hot, then lightly beat two of the eggs and stir them in too.
When everything else is ready, lightly beat the remaining eggs and season them with salt and pepper. Then, preheat your oven to 350 F (180 C). Next, make the first arancino by taking two small handfuls of rice and shaping them into hollow hemispheres Fill the hollows with some of the meat, and some of the peas, and mold the two halves together to obtain a smooth-sided rice ball about the size of a small orange (1.5 - 2 inches in diameter). Roll the arancino in flour, dredge it in the beaten egg, roll it well in the breadcrumbs, and fry it in abundant hot oil. While it's cooking begin with the next, and when it has become a golden brown drain it on absorbent paper. When you have finished frying your arancini, heat them through in the oven for five minutes, decorate them with the orange leaves if you choose to, and serve them hot.
