Arancini are Sicilian rice balls, stuffed and fried -- superb street food and quite nice at parties too. These arancini have a ham filling. To serve 4 you'll need:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups rice
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano (freshly grated, not from a can)
- 4 eggs
- A mozzarella weighing about a quarter pound
- 1/4 pound sliced ham (the cooked variety sold in delicatessens)
- Bread crumbs
- Flour
- Oil for frying
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Organically grown orange leaves (optional, as garnish)
Preparation:
Boil the rice in abundant lightly salted water. Drain it, and stir in the butter, minced parsley and grated cheese. Lightly beat two of the eggs and stir them in too.
Mince the ham, dice the mozzarella, and combine the two. Once the rice mixture has cooled and everything 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.
Yield: 4 servings Arancini stuffed with ham.
Mince the ham, dice the mozzarella, and combine the two. Once the rice mixture has cooled and everything 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.
Yield: 4 servings Arancini stuffed with ham.
