Arancini

Prep Time:
40 minutes

Inactive Prep Time:
2 hours

Cook Time:
1 hour

Serves:
About 4 to 6 arancini balls

Ingredients: Meat portion of arancini

• 1/2 cup minced onion, celery and carrot (mix together)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper
• 4 ounces tomato paste
• 1/2 cup sweet peas

Ingredients: Rice portion of arancini

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound Arborio rice
• 46 ounces chicken broth
• 1 package saffron powder
• 3 ounces grated Parmesan
• Freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients: for assembly of arancini

• Mozzarella (1/2-inch cubes)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• Bread crumbs
• Vegetable oil, for frying (deep fryer with basket)

Part One: Meat Mixture

Sauté onion, celery and carrot with olive oil until they onions become translucent and the carrots are tender. Add ground beef and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Once beef is added, with a wooden spoon, break down any chunks; the beef should be as fine as possible. Add tomato paste and peas. Once the ground beef and tomato paste begin to simmer, turn down heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Mixture should be thick. Let cool in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Part Two: Cooking the rice

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in medium sized skillet over medium heat. Add rice (stir until evenly coated with oil. Add half of chicken broth and saffron, stirring continually. Once broth has been absorbed, continue to add small increments of broth, still stirring continually. Once all the broth has been absorbed, add cheese and pepper, the rice should be tender but "Al Dente". Pour rice onto a baking sheet and add some butter for extra flavor. Place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Rice should be able to form into a ball once cooled properly.

Part Three: Assembly:

Take handful of cooled rice; flatten while forming an indent in middle of the ball. Take a teaspoon or so of cooled meat mixture and mozzarella cube and place in the indentation of rice. Take another half of handful or so of rice and finish forming the rice ball. Once all rice balls are formed, dip each into water and flour mixture (combine 1 cup of flour and 1 1/4 cups of warm water with a pinch of salt and pepper), once evenly coated in flour mixture, coat in plain breadcrumbs. In a deep fryer, fry rice balls on medium to high heat until golden brown.