Arancine (rice patties)
From "Sicilian Cookery: The best recipes of the regional cookery"
Eufemia Azzolina Pupella, author
ISBN 978-88-476-0463-6
- 1 kg/2 lbs/4 cups long grain rice
- 800 g/1.75 lbs minced (ground) meat
- 500 g/1 lb. peas
- 500 g/1 lb/5 cups dried breadcrumbs
- 300 g/.75 lb fresh caciocavallo or sharp provola cheese, diced
- 100 g/4 oz/1 cup grated pecorino or parmesan cheese
- 1 medium onion
- 7-8 eggs
- 2 Tb tomato paste or 1 tin (can) tomato concentrate
- 125 ml/4 fl. oz/1/2 cup dry white wine
- Basil
- Oil for frying
Preparation time: 4 hours
Chop the onion and saute in a little oil in a frying pan until golden. Add the meat and stir. Pour in the wine and allow to evaporate.
Dilute the tomato concentrate in hot water and add to cover the meat completely. Season with salt, pepper and basil. Simmer gently for about an hour. Add the peas and continue cooking for about 30 minutes.
Stand a colander over a saucepan, pour in the sauce and separate out the solids from the liquid.
Cook the rice in plenty of salted water in a saucepan and drain while still firm (it still has to be fried). Return to the small pan, pour over some of the sauce and stir, adding more if necessary (the rice must be barely coloured). Add the grated cheese and stir.
When cold, add 2 whole eggs (beaten) and stir.
Meanwhile, close at hand, get ready a bowl with the breadcrumbs, a bowl with the diced cheese, a bowl in which to beat the remaining eggs, the saucepan with the rice and a bowl with water to dip your hands into. Turn some dry breadcrumbs onto large platters which will hold the “arancine” once they are ready.
Take a small quantity of the cooked rice in your right hand and transfer it to your dampened left hand. Make a shell which you will fill with a little of the meat and peas and 2 or 3 pieces of cheese. Close up the patty with some more rice, and still with your hands, shape into an “orange.” Egg-and-crumb it, compressing it in both hands, and place on the platter with the breadcrumbs. Continue until all the rice is used up.
Deep fry in hot oil. To save on oil, I recommend using a not too large, deep-sided pan, frying 3 or 4 patties at a time.
NOTE: This is apparently enough to feed an Italian family for the entire weekend and send some home with the kids. I haven't tried the recipe yet, but it sounds right. It's very important that the rice be "barely coloured" as they say. In the north they make it too, too "tomatoey" and it's just not right. These can be almost any size. They're called "little oranges," but in Sicily they're as big as an orange, up north, they're more likely to be golfball sized. Don't be too scared of the 4 hours, it looks like a fair amount of waiting time. pce
