#18 Recipe: Arancini

So I tried out this sicilian dish last night. It was more complex than most anything else I've ever tried - there are 3 different multi-step processes you have to go through, but it turned out pretty good. Anthony actually really liked it, despite the fact that somehow in my world of amazing intellect I mixed up the mozarella cheese with hash browns. Hash browns?! Are you kidding me?! Yeah, I didn't notice until afterwards. Hey, they're both shredded and white and my darling husband put them both in clear plastic bags right on top of eachother! How in the world would I have known different?! I mean, I guess I could have tasted it, but I wasn't thinking that it could be anything other than mozarella cheese. Hash browns come in a big red bag, I know, I've bought them before!

But, they still turned out pretty good. Fortunately, I made enough of the filling that I can try to make them again (with the cheese this time) later this week.

Anyway, here is the recipe, from Rachael Ray's website:

Rice Ingredients:
2 cups uncooked rice
1 quart chicken stock or bouillon
3 tablespoons softened butter
4 egg yolks
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese

Filling Ingredients:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 pound ground veal, beef, chicken or pork
1/4 pound mozzarella cut into half-inch cubes
1 can tomato paste (6 ounces)
1 can water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup frozen peas

Frying Ingredients:
4 egg whites, slightly beaten
2 cups bread crumbs
Enough extra virgin olive oil to cover the pan 2 inches deep

Preparation

For Rice:Combine rice, chicken stock and butter in large pan. When chicken stock begins to boil, turn heat down low; stir rice once, then cover pan tightly and simmer until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Rice should be soft and slightly sticky so that it will hold together.Set aside rice to cool. Add egg yolks and parmesan cheese to cooled rice; stir well. Refrigerate while making the other parts of the recipe.

For Filling:In a saucepan, heat extra virgin olive oil and sauté onions and celery until golden, about five minutes. Add meat and brown. Stir in tomato paste, water, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Add peas and cook for five minutes longer.

To Fry:Add enough extra virgin olive oil to a pan with high sides so that it is about two inches deep, then turn to medium-high heat. While extra virgin olive oil is heating, shape rice mixture into round balls, about 1/2 cup each. With your finger, make a hole in each rice ball. Add one tablespoon of the meat filling and the cheese cube and cover the holes with more rice. Dip rice balls in egg whites and roll in bread crumbs until thoroughly coated. Drop carefully into heated extra virgin olive oil, a few at a time, and fry until golden, turning around for about 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel. Serve warm or at room temperature and with a side dish of tomato sauce.

*Changes I made: I made the rice with my rice cooker, and used just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil instead of the butter. I also eliminated the salt from the filling (because I just don't need the extra sodium) and the peas as well (because I couldn't find any fresh peas - only frozen, which I can't stand). You also don't need to use a full 2 inches of olive oil to fry them (the stuff is expensive!) so I just went about a 1/3 inch deep and was more careful rolling the balls around. I just did one at a time.

Oh, and the rice balls ended up being pretty big - larger than my fist. There was enough to make maybe 5. I probably should have worked the rice a little bit more in my hands so that it wasn't so thick around the filling. Then I could have made them a little smaller as well. Either way, one rice ball each was enough to fill up both my husband and myself.

I'll update after I try it out again.