Arancini Again!

The other day I posted about making Arancini with my friend, Mariann.
Some of you have asked for a more specific recipe.
This is the recipe I use when making my own Arancini. And the only reason I used this recipe is because I didn't have the one from Mariann's mother. I didn't know how to make them, just looked up a recipe on the internet, looked in some cook books and took what I liked from different recipes.

The following recipe makes approximately 18 Arancini.

For the Filling
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 pouind of ground beef
1 1/2 cups chopped canned Italian peeled tomatoes
salt and pepper  to taste
1/2 cup or more to taste frozen peas

For the Rice
2 cups of rice, I like Carolina's for this recipe.
5 cups of water
2 Tbs butter
salt
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano
4 large eggs yolks

To Assemble
3 cups of seasoned bread crumbs, I like 4C
4 large egg whites, or more as needed
flour for dredging
1/2 pound of sharp  provolone cheese, cut into small pieces
Vegetable oil for frying

Make your sauce using the onion, and garlic with the olive oil. When the onion and garlic is soft add the beef and cook until browned. Drain excess fat and then add tomatoes and seasoning. Bring sauce to a simmer and then reduce heat and cook on low for about 30 minutes.
Add the peas and cook another 5 minutes.
Let cool.

Add the rice, water , butter and salt to a large pot that can hold all the rice. Bring to a boil and cover and cook on low for 20 minutes. Do not lift the lid while cooking. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes before removing the lid.
Let the rice cool slightly before adding the egg yolks and the cheeses. Mix all together and taste and then adjust seasoning.

Here's my assembly of the Arancini.
Beat egg whites in a bowl and set aside. Sprinkle the bread crumbs on one sheet of wax paper and the flour on another sheet of wax paper.
Dip your hands in cool water, and then take about 1/3 cup scoop of the rice and form a pattie in your hand, making a dent in the middle, but not a hole. Put your filling in the the indentation and cover with more rice and work it in your hands to make a ball.
Roll the ball in the flour and then the egg whites and then roll in the breadcrumbs. When made the other day we did not use the flour or the egg whites and they came out fine. So if you'd like you can skip that part and go right to the breadcrumbs.
I like to set the Arancini on a baking rack after they are rolled in the breadcrumbs and let them rest before frying them.
I like to deep fry them, they cook evenly and have a beautiful color. If you don't have a deep fryer you may pan fry them, or use a small stock pot and put about 3 inches of oil in the pot and cook them in the heated oil that way!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Enjoy!
Lorraine

Arancini with Mariann and Diandra

Today I had a fabulous day with my goomara, (Italian slang for really good friend)  Mariann and her daughter Diandra.
 Mariann and I have been friends since we were in grade school at East Memorial, in Farmingdale, New York. I say we met when we were in Kindergarten, Mare say's it was First grade. She has recently found pictures of herself while in Italy in uniform attending Kindergarten, so I stand corrected. We've been friends since 1st grade. In any case, that's 45 + years.  I could write pages about our friendship and try to describe Mariann's inner and outer beauty and I wouldn't come close to doing justice to her, or our friendship...Mariann I love you!!! ...so I'll just move on to the tradition of the Arancini!
When ever there was a major event or any special occasion, Mariann's mother, Concetta and her Aunt Gina would get busy in the kitchen. These two tiny woman with huge personality and cooking talent were amazing!  They would make hundreds of these rice balls, Arancini, for any special occasion especially at Christmas and then turn around and make another 100 for New Year's Day. If there was a party there was always a huge platter of Arancini. I was never disappointed, and I always looked for them.
They never tired of cooking for their loved ones and extended family. I am so blessed to be one of many of the beneficiaries of the extended family!

The first thing you have to do is make a sauce of peas, chop meat, onion, garlic and tomatoes. Mariann sauteed 12 pounds of chop meat to make this recipe, which I have to say made a gigunta amount of sauce. Most people are not going to make 100 Arancini, so most people don't need that much sauce. We didn't need that much sauce!
I would start with one onion, chopped a clove or two of garlic chopped and saute them in a little olive oil in a large pan. Add your chop meat, crumbling it as you add it to the cooking onion and garlic and cook until your meat gets browned. Remove excess oil and add tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and bay leaf, a nice bunch will do. Let the sauce start to simmer and add sweet peas (one bag of frozen) and a little romano cheese.
Let your sauce cool.

Step 2
Make the rice. Mariann likes Carolina brand rice for this recipe. She used one medium size bag of rice and cooked it according to the directions on the bag. It's a sticky kind of rice. Let the rice cool at room temperature, or at least so you can handle it.  Once the rice cooled Mariann added Parmesan Cheese, Romano Cheese, salt, pepper, a little chopped parsley and a few whole eggs and mixed it all together. Once she got the taste and the texture she wanted it was time to start making them into delicious orbs better known as Arancini.

Diandra is the master at making the Arancini. She has sculptors hands and has a magic way of working the rice in her hands while filling them, and I mean filling them up with the meat and pea sauce!

Once we all started to help Diandra we had a few made and into the deep fryer they went.

After 2 - 3 minutes we checked on them, and when they had a beautiful golden color we took them out of the fryer and let them sit.

The first few we made came out huge. The more we made the more uniform in size they became, but not without a few jokes...it's always about size, isn't it? lol And to Mariann's surprise I had a little trick up my sleeve.

I know each time we make something we always say, these are the best ever! Take a look at the inside of this baby! Doesn't this just look delicious? YUMMM!

I hope you get an idea from this on how to make an Arancini.  Good luck and email me, or leave a comment and I'll get back to you and assist you in any way I can.

There are hundreds of recipes out there on the internet for Arancini.  Each one is different and I'm sure delicious. It's fun to try all new recipes and then decide which one you like best.

Thanks for visiting me today. This post was a little different with all the videos added, and may be a little discombobulated. Please be patient with me during my growing pains!

Buon Appetito
xoxoxo
Lorraine