This recipe for classic Sicilian arancini with saffron risotto and spicy beef and pea ragu comes to us from our very good friend Phil Buccellato, the man behind the ever inspiring Saucesandwich instagram account. He’s been a huge fan of our ingredients for years, and always creates the most appetizing dishes! These arancini are a labor of love and totally worth it. Start by making the risotto and the ragu the day before so everything has a chance to come to room temperature before you start assembling. As always, we recommend deep-frying in extra virgin olive oil for the most flavorful and healthiest results.
Ingredients
TIME: 4 hours
YIELD: about 30 arancini
For the arancini:
- Saffron Risotto, made up to step 5 (do not add the butter or cheese)
- Maiorca flour, 1 cup / 120g
- Eggs, 3
- Bread crumbs, 2 cups / 200g
- Extra virgin olive oil, for frying
For the filling:
- Ground beef, 1 lb / 250g
- Extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp
- Onion, 1 half, finely chopped
- Garlic, 2 cloves, finely minced
- Peperoncini, to taste
- Tomato concentrate, 1 tbsp
- Red wine, ½ cup / 120ml
- San Marzano tomatoes, 1 can (400g / 14.1oz)
- Bay leaves, 2
- Frozen green peas, ⅔ cup / 135g
- Mozzarella, ½ cup / 100g, shredded
- Provolone, ½ cup / 100g, shredded
Preparation
MAKE THE RAGU (we recommend making it a day ahead)
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the ground beef. Brown the meat, breaking apart the large pieces with a wooden spoon until cooked through. Drain away the liquid and set aside in a bowl.
- Heat extra virgin olive oil in the same pan on low. Add the onion and cook until transluscent, about 8 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and the peperoncini to the pan and sauté for 30 seconds or so.
- In a small bowl or cup, dilute the tomato concentrate with the red wine to form a smooth paste. Add it to the pan, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Pour the contents of the can of San Marzano tomatoes in the pan, crushing the tomatoes with your hands (alternatively, crush them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon). Stir to combine, add the bay leaves, and bring to a gentle simmer.
- Stir the cooked beef into the sauce and continue cook for 10 minutes or so.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the frozen peas. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until needed.
MAKE THE ARANCINI
- Begin heating your frying oil, it’ll need to be at least 4 inches deep.
- Stir the mozzarella and provolone into the beef ragu.
- Form the arancini balls: take 2 tbsp or so of risotto in your hand and form it into a small bowl.
- Place a dollop of the ragu/cheese mixture in the center, and begin closing your “bowl” of rice around the filling.
- Add a “lid” to completely encase the filling in rice and shape with your hands to form a compact ball. Continue until you’ve used up all the ingredients
- Coat the arancini with breading: place Maiorca flour in one bowl, whisk the eggs together in another, and the breadcrumbs in a third. Working with one arancino at a time, coat each rice ball in flour, then in egg, and finally in breadcrumbs.
- Once the oil reaches 350F, deep fry the arancini in batches until golden brown, turning them in the oil so they’re evenly colored.
- Transfer the arancini to a wire rack to let the excess oil drip away.
Arancini are best eaten as soon as they’re ready, but you can reheat them in an oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes. You can also freeze them once fried, they’ll need 30 minutes to fully reheat from frozen.
