Arancini
A Sicilian street food of saffron rice formed around a beef ragù, peas and a cube of caciocavallo, breaded and deep-fried to a crisp crust.
The ragù is simmered down thick and cooled completely, while the saffron rice becomes tender, glossy with butter and firm enough to shape. The balls are then formed around the cold filling, breaded and deep-fried in small batches, so the crust has time to turn crisp without darkening too quickly. A completely sealed, cold rice shell determines whether the filling stays put during frying.
Ingredients
The ragù
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 50 g celery, finely chopped
- 250 g ground beef
- 1 dl red wine
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 dl passata
- 100 g peas, frozen
- 1 tsp salt
- pepper, freshly ground
The rice
- 400 g risotto rice
- 9 dl water
- 1 pinch saffron threads, crumbled
- 1 tsp salt
- 50 g butter
- 60 g pecorino, freshly grated
For shaping and breading
- 100 g caciocavallo, cut into 8 cubes
- 100 g all-purpose flour
- 1½ dl water
- 1 pinch salt
- 150 g breadcrumbs
- 1½ l sunflower oil, for deep-frying
How to make it
- Warm the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Sauté the finely chopped onion, carrot and celery for 8 minutes, until the vegetables are completely soft and glossy without taking on color.
- Turn the heat up to high and add the ground beef. Brown it for 6 minutes, breaking up the clumps with the back of a spoon, until the liquid has evaporated and the meat is browned all the way through.
- Pour in the red wine and let it reduce for 3 minutes, until the sharp alcohol smell is gone and the bottom of the pot is nearly dry again.
- Stir in the tomato paste and let it cook for 2 minutes, until it turns a dark, deep red and loses its sour rawness.
- Pour in the passata and season with salt and pepper. Set the lid on askew and let the ragù simmer over low heat for 40 minutes, until it is thick and the fat gathers as a red film on the surface. ⏱ 40 min · passive
- Fold in the frozen peas and let them cook for 5 minutes, until they are tender and the ragù is so thick that a spoon leaves a trail that holds its shape. Season to taste with salt — the ragù should taste distinctly salty, since the neutral rice around it will pull the flavor down.
- Spread the ragù out in a thin layer in a dish and let it cool for 30 minutes, until it is completely cold and no longer steaming. Warm ragù melts the rice from the inside and cannot be sealed in. ⏱ 30 min · passive
- Put the risotto rice in a pot with a tight-fitting lid, add the water and crumble the saffron threads into it along with the salt. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to low and cook the rice, covered, for 20 minutes in total, until the water is completely absorbed and the grains are tender with a firm center. ⏱ 20 min · passiveChef's tip The rice is cooked by absorption here, not like a risotto — the lid stays on so the steam is trapped in the pot and the water is absorbed completely. Lift the lid partway through and the steam escapes, leaving the top grains hard.
- Remove the pot from the heat and stir the butter and freshly grated pecorino into the hot rice for 2 minutes, until every grain is glossy and the mixture sticks together when pressed against the side of the pot.Chef's tip Stir firmly, not gently: the friction pulls starch out of the hot grains, and that starch is the glue that later holds the balls shut. Off the heat, the cheese melts in smoothly instead of turning stringy.
- Spread the rice out in a thin layer on a baking sheet and let it cool for 45 minutes, until it has firmed up and is cold. Warm rice melts the caciocavallo inside the balls and falls apart in the oil. ⏱ 45 min · passiveChef's tip Cold rice is firm and moldable because the starch sets as it cools, and a thin layer cools far faster than a deep pile. The mixture should feel sticky but firm, not warm and loose.
- Whisk the flour together with the water and salt into a smooth pastella with no lumps. It should be thick enough to stay as an even layer on the back of a spoon.
- Divide the cold rice into eight equal portions. Press one portion flat in a dampened palm, place an eighth of the cold ragù and a cube of caciocavallo in the center, and close the rice completely around the filling. Shape it into a firm ball the size of an orange, and repeat with the remaining seven — allow 25 minutes in total. The surface must be smooth and free of cracks, since a crack will let the filling escape into the oil. ⏱ 25 minChef's tip Press each ball firmly between both palms as you close it, so no air pocket stays trapped inside. Pockets expand in hot oil and can push the shell open at its weakest seam.
- Roll each ball around in the pastella so the whole surface has a thin, even coating, and immediately turn it in the breadcrumbs. Allow 12 minutes for all eight, and keep turning each ball in the breadcrumbs until there is not a single bare spot left. ⏱ 10 min
- Pour the sunflower oil into a tall, heavy-bottomed pot so it stands at least 8 cm deep, and heat it to 175°C over 10 minutes. Keep an eye on the meat thermometer as you go: oil that's too cold soaks fat into the breading, and oil that's too hot burns the crust before the filling is hot. ⏱ 10 minChef's tip Choose a pot the oil fills no more than halfway: it foams up sharply when the cold, moist balls go in. A large volume of oil also holds its temperature far better than a shallow one.
- Deep-fry the arancini in four batches of two, 16 minutes in total — about 4 minutes per batch. Turn them once along the way, until they are deep golden brown and the crust crackles dry when you lift them out. ⏱ 15 minChef's tip Two at a time keeps the temperature from crashing; let it climb back to 175°C between batches. Each ball should be ringed by lively bubbles — lazy bubbling means the oil is too cool and the breading is drinking fat.
- Lift each batch onto a rack with a slotted spoon and let them drain for 2 minutes, so the bottom doesn't steam soft in its own fat. ⏱ 2 min · passive
- Serve the arancini hot on flat plates, two per person. They're eaten with your hands and no cutlery: break the first one open in the middle so the steam escapes before you bite into the scalding-hot filling.
