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Arancini di Riso is the Sicilian street food of golden, fried balls of creamy, cheesy risotto filled with a zesty ragu of beef and peas. They’re addictive and possibly the ultimate comfort food. Serve them with a side of your favorite marinara sauce.
I discovered arancini while visiting The Palace Of The Normans in Palermo. I was told to grab lunch at a place called Sfrigola. A short walk found me standing in a long line wrapped around a lovely little cafe with the most heavenly smells escaping the doors.
The line moved quickly to a counter where handsome, charming, and friendly staff fill your arancini in front of you and then fry them to golden perfection.
You walk out holding a fist-size, golden, crunchy rice ball encasing fillings like ham and cheese, meaty ragu, or cheesy vegetables. I had to go back several times during my trip to sample a few of the other fillings. They also make a fried pastry dusted in sugar, but that’s a post for another time.
Arancini di Riso
This recipe makes the risotto in the oven, which eliminates having to stand and continuously stir the risotto as it cooks. The filling is a traditional ragu made with tomato sauce, ground beef, and peas.
While this isn’t a difficult recipe, it is a three-step process and takes time. Consider it a labor of love because the arancini are worth it!
There are a lot of steps and it DOES take some time, but none of the steps are difficult.
Arancini di Riso is the Sicilian street food of golden, fried balls of creamy, cheesy risotto filled with a zesty ragu of beef and peas. They’re addictive and possibly the ultimate comfort food. Serve them with a side of your favorite marinara sauce.
Make the risotto.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large Dutch oven, place the rice and 5 cups of chicken stock and stir well. Cover and bake for 1 hour or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente.
Remove from the oven and quickly stir in the remaining hot chicken stock, cheese, wine, butter, salt, pepper, and egg yolk.
Stir vigorously until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is very thick and looks creamy.
Let the mixture come to room temperature and then cover the pot and refrigerate until the rice is very cold – at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Use a spoon to break up the meat into tiny bits.
Add the onion and garlic. Stir into the beef and continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the beef is no longer pink.
Carefully drain any fat from the meat. Stir in the tomato sauce, peas, salt, and pepper. Set aside to cool until it can be easily handled.
Use ¼ – ⅓ cup of cold risotto to make a patty.
Place one heaping tablespoon of the meat filling into the center of the patty.
Bring the edges of the rice patty up around the filling forming a ball. Set aside on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining rice and filling.
Fill a large Dutch oven or deep fat fryer with oil until about half full. Preheat the oil until it reaches 375 degrees on a deep-fat thermometer.
Place the eggs in a shallow bowl and whisk well with a tablespoon of water.
Place the bread crumbs in another shallow bowl.
Dip each rice ball into the egg mixture and then roll in the bread crumbs.
Fry the rice balls, a few at a time, for 1-2 minutes on each side until deep golden brown and crisp.
Use a wire spider or slotted spoon to remove the balls from the oil and drain them on paper towels.
Serve warm with tomato sauce.