Arancini Siciliani
Golden fried rice balls with a ragù heart. The true street food of Palermo — crispy outside, rich and comforting inside.
Ingredients
- 500gArborio rice
- 200gminced beef
- 100gfrozen peas
- 100gmozzarella
- 2eggs
- 200gbreadcrumbs
- 1Lsunflower oil for frying
- 60gtomato paste
Method
Cook rice with saffron until creamy. Spread on tray to cool completely.
Brown mince, add tomato paste, peas and season. Simmer until thick.
Shape cooled rice into balls, insert ragù and mozzarella cube in centre.
Coat in beaten egg then breadcrumbs. Double coat for extra crunch.
Deep fry at 180°C until deep golden brown. Drain and serve hot.
Frequently asked
What are arancini balls made of?
Saffron risotto rice, a filling and a crumb. In Sicily the rice is cooked with saffron and left to cool completely, then shaped around a filling of ragù and mozzarella, rolled in breadcrumbs and deep-fried. Cold rice is not a shortcut — warm rice will not hold its shape.
What is a typical arancini filling?
The two classics are al ragù — beef and pork ragù with peas and mozzarella — and al burro, with butter, ham and béchamel. In Catania you also find them with aubergine, following pasta alla Norma.
Is it better to fry or bake arancini?
Fry them. Baking gives a dry, uneven crust and the inside never gets the contrast that makes an arancino worth eating. If you want them lighter, fry at 175°C so the crumb colours before the centre overheats, and drain them standing up rather than lying down.
Why do my arancini burst when frying?
Almost always warm rice, too much filling, or a gap in the crumb. Chill the rice completely, keep the filling to a heaped teaspoon, seal the ball fully in your palms before crumbing, and make sure the oil is at temperature — cool oil means longer in the pan and more chance of a split.
Learn to make Arancini Siciliani with Chef Gabriele
A recipe gets you most of the way there. The rest is in the hands — how the dough should feel, when to stop working it, what the pan should sound like. Chef Gabriele teaches the arancini and street food classin Leichhardt, Sydney's Little Italy, in small groups where everyone cooks.
