Arancini, the cult Sicilian dish

Keywords:	Italian Cuisine ¦ Rice ¦ Traditional ¦ Sicilian Cuisine ¦ Montalbano ¦ Cult ¦ Street Food
Translations:	Español
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To most tourists, this is street food. You don't really get arancinis in restaurants. But to Sicilians, this is a national sicilian emblem, cooked with time and love by their mothers and grandmothers. Everybody knows a person 'who makes the best arancinis'.

It could be preposterous for a Swiss to try and make such a difficult and symbolic dish, but I came well-equipped with some tastings and the absolute reference on Sicilian cuisine, Il diamante della grande cucina di Sicilia (The Diamond of the Great Cuisine of Sicily), written by Sicilian theater director with a passion for food Pino Correnti. Each recipe is explained in great details, with all the technicalities and tours-de-main as well as ample historical background.

What brought these glorified deep-fried stuffed rice croquettes such reverence? I am not sure. But they certainly hold a high status in Sicily. The most widely read author in Italia, Camilleri, whose 'Montalbano' detective novels fostered a hugely successful string of 12 movies, wrote one of the novels around this dish. In 'Gli arancini di Montalbano', the commissioner Montalbano goes to great lengths to ensure he can accept the invitation to eat arancinis on New Year's Eve at one of his informants' mother's house.

Montalbano has to lie to his girlfriend who organised him a romantic trip to Paris, lie to his boss and forge evidence to ensure he gets his arancinis. On the picture above you see the mother preparing the arancinis in the final scene. You can download the episode from the RAI TV website if your Italian is any good.

Here is the paragraph in the book:

Gesù, gli arancini di Adelina! Li aveva assaggiati solo una volta: un ricordo che sicuramente gli era trasùto nel Dna, nel patrimonio genetico. Adelina ci metteva due jornate sane sane a pripararli. Ne sapeva, a memoria, la ricetta. Il giorno avanti si fa un aggrassato di vitellone e di maiale in parti uguali che deve còciri a foco lentissimo per ore e ore con cipolla, pummadoro, sedano, prezzemolo e basilico. Il giorno appresso si pripara un risotto, quello che chiamano alla milanisa (senza zaffirano, Pi carità!), lo si versa sopra a una tavola, ci si impastano le ova e lo si fa rifriddàre. Intanto si còcino i pisellini, si fa una besciamella, si riducono a pezzettini ‘na poco di fette di salame e si fa tutta una composta con la carne aggrassata, triturata a mano con la mezzaluna (nenti frullatore, Pi carità di Dio!). Il suco della carne s’ammisca col risotto. A questo punto si piglia tanticchia di risotto, s’assistema nel palmo d'una mano fatta a conca, ci si mette dentro quanto un cucchiaio di composta e si copre con dell’altro riso a formare una bella palla. Ogni palla la si fa rotolare nella farina, poi si passa nel bianco d'ovo e nel pane grattato. Doppo, tutti gli arancini s'infilano in una padeddra d’oglio bollente e si fanno friggere fino a quando pigliano un colore d'oro vecchio. Si lasciano scolare sulla carta. E alla fine, ringraziannu u Signiruzzu, si mangiano! Montalbano non ebbe dubbio con chi cenare la notte di capodanno. Solo una domanda l’angustiò prima di pigliare sonno: i due delinquenti figli d’Adelina ce l'avrebbero fatta a restare in libertà fino al giorno appresso?

The recipe takes 2 days to cook. The day before I made the risotto and the ragù according to the stringent specifications of the Diamante. Then you let it rest in the fridge for a night, and prepare the workspace for the next day. If you don't have space in your kitchen or live with only one plate, don't try this. You have no less than 7 bowls around the frying machine: risotto, ragù, cheese cubes, flour, beaten eggs, water and the breadcrumbs.

Here is the recipe. The amount of rice relative to the meat filling depends on how much you manage to stuff each arancino.

ARANCINI AL RISO
For the risotto:
1 onion, finely minced
20gr butter
2 cups risotto rice
4 cups chicken broth
150gr grated Pecorino cheese

For the ragù:
50gr pancetta
1 onion
1 carot
1 celery stick
1 clove garlic, minced
200gr beef chuck
1 cup tomato purée
1 cup red wine
2 twigs thyme
1 bay leaf
salt, pepper
1 cup cooked green peas

When making the arancini:
1 cup flour
1 cup breadcrumbs
3 eggs, beaten
200gr cheese, soft pecorino or other meltable cheese

The day before, make the risotto by frying the minced onion gently in a saucepan, then adding the uncooked rice and leaving it for two more minutes, then adding the broth and leaving it unocvered until cooked. Do not add saffron. When cold add the grated pecorino, cover and store in the frige until the next day. While you make the risotto, prepare the ragù. Fry pancetta, minced onion and garlic until soft. Gradually add finely minced chuck meat so that it will brown without releasing too much liquid at once. When all meat has been browned in this way, add minced carrot and celery stick and fry for 5 more minutes. Pour the red wine and let cook for 2 minute until alcool has evaporated. Add tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme, salt and pepper. Cover and leave to cook on lowest flame for 1 hours or until meat is soft. Store in the fridge until next day.

The next day, heat 2 liters (2 quarts) oil to 180°C in a pan and prepare 7 bowls:

Bowl 1: Cold risotto
Bowl 2: Ragù
Bowl 3: Diced cheese
Bowl 4: Flour
Bowl 5: Beaten eggs
Bowl 6: Breadcrumbs
Bowl 7: Water

To make an arancino, take two tablespoons of risotto in one hand, make a hole with a finger and stuff it with ragù and 1-2 cheese cubes. Close the hole with the risotto until you have a small ball with no ragù in sight. Some people make little volcanoes as you see in the picture above. Roll the arancino in the flour, shake it to remove excess flour, then quickly dip into the beaten eggs and check it is thoroughly covered on all its surface. If not, dip again in the eggs until it is. Then just roll in breadcrumbs to make a nice crust and deep fry until nicely brown.

Making arancini is not difficult and does not require special skill. Your first arancini will be very 'ricy'. The name of the game is to get as much filling in as little risotto possible. If you keep trying, each arancino will be better than the last one. Good luck!