Arancini
Contains gluten, dairy · sometimes contains egg, peanut, tree nut, sesame, soy, shellfish, fish — check the label
Restrictions
Containsgluten · dairyIt is in an ingredient you cannot leave out.
Sometimes contains — check the labelegg (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · peanut (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · tree nut (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · sesame (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · soy (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · shellfish (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio) · fish (cheese mozzarella, peas, rice arborio)Some brands have it, some do not. The recipe cannot tell, so this is the one you check yourself.
Worked out from the ingredient list. It knows nothing about brands, shared equipment or cross contamination, and it is not a certification — if you have an allergy, you still have to read the label.
Ingredients
| 450 g | Arborio rice |
| 4 cup | water or light stock |
| 1 pinch | saffron threads |
| 2 tbsp | butter |
| ½ cup | Parmesan (finely grated) |
| 1 lb | ground beef |
| 1 unit | yellow onion (finely chopped) |
| ¾ cup | tomato sauce |
| ½ cup | peas |
| 4 oz | mozzarella (small cubes) |
| 1 cup | all-purpose flour |
| 2 cup | fine breadcrumbs |
| 1 l | neutral frying oil |
Steps
- simmer20 minrice tender and liquid fully absorbed; mixture cohesive rather than soupyCook the rice by absorption with the saffron until tender and dry enough to mound. Stir in butter and Parmesan, then spread it out; excess free moisture now would later weaken the shell around the filling.
- cool45 minrice completely cool and firm enough to hold a pressed cavityCool the rice completely. Warm rice is soft and steamy, so it tears around the filling and sends moisture into the breading; chilled, cohesive rice is the structural material of the arancino.
- saute8 minbeef browned; onion soft; no pooled fat or waterBrown the beef with the onion, breaking it into small pieces, until the onion is soft and the meat has real color. Drain excessive fat if necessary; a greasy filling weakens the rice wall just as surely as a watery one.
- reduce8 mintomato sauce concentrated tightly around meat; peas tender; filling spoonable but not wetAdd the tomato sauce and peas and reduce until the ragù is thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon. Cool it before shaping; a hot or loose filling creates steam and pressure inside the rice shell.
- shape15 min8 compact portions with a thick continuous rice wall around filling and mozzarellaFlatten a portion of rice in a damp hand, add a modest spoonful of ragù and a mozzarella cube, then close the rice completely around it. Patch every thin spot before breading rather than relying on crumbs to seal a structural hole.
- coat10 minthin flour-water coating followed by complete dry breadcrumb shellWhisk flour with enough water to make a thin batter, coat each rice ball, then cover it completely in breadcrumbs. Let excess batter drip away so the crust fries crisp instead of forming a heavy dough layer.
- fry10 min350°F oil; exterior deep golden and crisp; cheese hot insideFry in small batches at about 350°F until deeply golden. Give the oil time to recover between batches; cool oil soaks the crumb with fat, while excessively hot oil browns the shell before the center heats through.
- rest5 mindrained and cool enough to bite without losing crispnessDrain on a rack and rest briefly. The short pause lets internal steam settle while keeping the crust exposed to air; piling hot arancini on paper or under a cover softens the shell.