#aranchini

Since we went to Sicily last year, I’ve been wanting to make aranchini’s. We’ve eaten lots of those during that holiday and it is the perfect combination of risotto and fried goods like the Dutch bitterballen. So, I brought some nice risotto rice from Italy last week and it was time to try out the recipe for aranchini with arabiata sauce from Jamie Oliver, changed to meet my own taste.

Ingredients:

[safran] risotto | 100gr pistachios | 150gr mozzarella | 100gr dried tomatoes | some fresh oregano | zest of 1 lemon | 100gr flour | 1 egg | 200gr dried breadcrumbs | vegetable oil for frying

For the sauce: 2 garlic cloves | 1 red chili | 5 basil stalks | 400gr tin plum tomatoes

Extra: pine nuts | fried capers | parmesan cheese

Make the risotto like you are used to. You can also try this recipe and use safran instead of pumpkin. You can make a large portion and eat half of it as normal risotto with a nice salad, and use the other half for the aranchini. How much you need of the ingredients depends a bit on how much risotto you have left. I made 6 balls that could fit in the palm of my hand and needed the above amount of ingredients for the filling.

Chop the pistachios, add the chopped mozzarella, the chopped tomatoes, the chopped oregano and the lemon zest. Season with some pepper, salt and if you want lemon juice, but make sure it does not become too wet.

Scoop some cooled risotto in your hand. Make a hole, add a spoon of the mixture in the hole and add another handpalm of risotto to make it into a ball with the filling in the middle of it. Make sure you seal it completely. Repeat until you have used all the risotto.

Put the aranchini’s in the fridge for half an hour to make them firmer.

In the mean time, place three bowls on you kitchen counter. One for the flour, one for the egg and one for the breadcrumbs. In the middle bowl you have a beaten egg. I left the other two empty and used the flour and breadcrumbs from out of the package.

After half an hour, take the aranchini’s out of the fridge. First, coat them in flour. Shake off any excess flour. After that, dip the aranchini into the egg, make sure you cover the whole ball. And third, cover the aranchini with breadcrumbs. Make sure you don’t see any risotto anymore and that you’ve made a nice thick crust. Repeat this with all the aranchini’s.

I used the aranchini’s for a dinner the next day, so I kept them unfried in the fridge. I’m not sure that is the best idea because they were quite soft the next day. I think it is best to make them and fry them right away. I fried them by pouring vegetable oil in a pan an heating this until when you stick in a chopstick, little bubbles are formed around it. Fry for about 8 minutes, or until soft and golden. Serve right away.

I served the dish with arabiata sauce. Cut 2 garlic gloves, fry them in some oil. At a sliced red chilli and chopped basil stalks. Fry for about 3 minutes, than add the tomatoes. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and make sure there aren’t any large pieces of tomato in it anymore.

Serve the aranchini’s with some pine nuts, fried capers and some parmesan cheese.