Arancini
Fried rice balls
Arancini
Sicilian rice balls stuffed with meat
Arancini, the famous fried rice balls, are typically eaten in Sicily at lunch as a small snack between meals. They are usually filled with a meat filling but you can definitely be creative with them.
Ingredients (4 people):
1l chicken stock
½ teaspoon saffron threads
salt
pepper
400g Arborio rice
450ml marinara sauce
100g freshly grated pecorino/ parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
225g pork
1 onion
100g peas
4 eggs
300g breadcrumbs
Vegetable oil for frying
Preparation time:
1 hour
Preparation:
Finely chop the saffron threads and bring them to boil together with the chicken broth, salt and pepper in a saucepan. Add the rice, bring it to boil again and let it simmer until the rice is cooked and dry. Add 200ml marinara sauce and cheese, stir and let it cool for at least 2 hours.
Now chop the pork meat into small pieces and peel the onion and chop it. Fry the pork meat in a pan of hot olive oil, add onion and fry and cook with the remaining marinara sauce for 45 minutes at low heat. Finally, add the peas, cook it again and then take it off the heat and let it cool.
Once the rice has cooled, crack 2 eggs and mix them with the rice. Now flatten the rice into 12 equal portions on a work surface. Put 2 tablespoons meat sauce in the middle and fold up the rice patties and gently roll them into balls. Once all the rice balls are done, stir them with the two remaining eggs, and roll the ball first in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Finally heat up the oil in a deep fryer or a pan and fry the rice balls until they are browned all around. Strain the remaining oil and serve as hot as possible!
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