Arancini di Riso are rice balls, stuffed with a filling -- mushroom in this case -- and fried: Sicilian street food at its finest, and good at parties too. 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)
- 6 ounces champignon-type cultivated mushrooms, sliced
- An ounce of dried porcini (this is about a packed quarter cup), steeped in boiling water to cover for 5 minutes
- A clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons minced parsley
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 eggs
- Flour
- Bread crumbs
- Oil for frying
- Salt & Pepper to taste
- Organically grown orange leaves (optional, as garnish)
Preparation:
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and sauté the garlic; as soon as it begins to color add the champignons, and while they're beginning to simmer remove the porcini from the water (reserve the liquid) and coarsely chop them. Add them to the pot too; if you want a very mushroomy filling, strain the soaking liquid and add it to the pan too. Simmer the mushrooms until the liquid is much reduced, then stir in the minced parsley and remove the filling from the fire.
Boil the rice in lightly salted water, drain it, and stir in the remaining butter and grated cheese. Lightly beat two of the eggs and stir them in too. Once the rice mixture and the filling have cooled, prepare the arancini as described above.
Once the rice mixture and the filling have cooled, 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 with mushroom filling.
Boil the rice in lightly salted water, drain it, and stir in the remaining butter and grated cheese. Lightly beat two of the eggs and stir them in too. Once the rice mixture and the filling have cooled, prepare the arancini as described above.
Once the rice mixture and the filling have cooled, 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 with mushroom filling.
