Feb 22 2010
Arancini, or, Testing the candy thermometer
I had hoped that leftover risotto would turn out to be really slurpy and tasty, like eating cold rice pudding with savoury flavours. In fact it was stodgy and a bit dull, but there was too much left in the pan to just chuck it out.
The internet said make arancini, so I did. I used what I had to hand for the fillings: cheese, prawns and peas. A bit eclectic but I was running short for time. You’ve got to have non-stick hands to do this properly — make a little hemisphere of rice and fill it with whatever you choose, before capping off the end with more rice to make a beautiful ball. Obviously the aim is to get as much filling in there as possible which is pretty difficult.
My attempts were quite heavy on rice and light on filling. They get breadcrumbed and deep fried, which gave me a chance to use my new candy thermometer. This will come in handy for later experiments.
The result was tasty and the cheese worked very well, but it needs more practise!
They were scrummy. And as the website you used noted, first attempts are always over ricey. I should make some risotto to encourage further batches!
mmm, deep fried food. This way to Mars Bar Fritters…..
Wow! I admire the way you experiment with food. I like the idea of having the balls with a surprise inside! It could be quite good for packed lunches, kind of the sushi idea of using rice to transport other food with you.
By the way, thanks for your comment on the hot water bottle. The book I am using is Sew! a lovely present I got for Christmas. Carry on experimenting with your cooking (I love to see what you make since I am a little bit lazy on that front….)
they make rather good arancini in the Italian bakers in Albert Street, and a good hot oven is required to heat then up too, but they wouldn’t give as much satisfaction as making your own