Cacio e Pepe Arancini's
A true Holiday staple in my house.
Arancini’s were the first thing I ever really learnt to cook. The first time I made them I was living at home and had my mom put them in the hot oil for me because I was too scared. They have since become a staple in my home. Usually I save them for special occasions because they aren’t the fastest option in the world.
If I’m being honest, about 70% of the reason I wanted to go to Sicily was for the arancini’s. I’m pretty sure they contributed to at least 6 of the 10 extra pounds I brought home with me.
Prior to me, my husband had never had an arancini and I can only imagine that the first time having one had to have been the second best day of his life. First being the day he met me of course.
If you are not familiar, they are deep fried risotto balls with usually some sort of delicious filling. Most are filled with mozzarella, some people add sausage, some do a tomato base risotto… You can really get crazy with it.
My favorite way is to do a Cacio e Pepe style risotto with a mozzarella filling. It’s like if Rome & Sicily had a little arancini baby.
Again, measure with your heart. The measurements provided below are rough estimates for a large gathering. Following this, you will make about 25 arancini’s, so don’t be mad at me if you follow it and make enough for a village.
Ingredients
Risotto Rice (I prefer Arborio)
2 cups grated Pecorino Romano
Flour (approx. 2 cups)
3 Eggs
350g Mozzarella
Peppercorns
Italian breadcrumbs (approx. 2.5 cups)
1/2 cup Heavy cream
900 ml Chicken stock
Garlic
Parsley
Extra virgin olive oil
Ideally you’re going to want to prepare your risotto the day before so that it can cool in your fridge over night. If you don’t have that much time, don’t stress, an hour or two in the fridge should be long enough.
Crush your peppercorns in a mortar and pestle. I know this is annoying but it makes a difference, trust me.
Toast the crushed peppercorns in a pan on low heat.
Add a little bit of garlic, EVOO, and toast your rice for a minute or two.
Once toasted, add your chicken stock + a little bit of heavy cream and cook till rice is almost al dente.
Stir in your Pecorino Romano (save a little for garnishing.)
When the stock has been absorbed, remove the risotto and lay flatly on a sheet pan to cool in the refrigerator as instructed above.
When the rice has cooled, you can now cut your mozzarella into little cubes. These will be placed inside of the rice ball.
Remove from the fridge and begin to assemble. I find it easiest to grab half of the amount I’d like one ball to be sized, press my thumb into the center to create a little hollow and then fill around the mozzarella square.
Assemble your batter station. I use 3 to-go containers to make it easy for clean up. One filled with the 3 beaten eggs, one with flour seasoned with black pepper + garlic powder and lastly, one with the breadcrumbs and some pecorino.
At this point, I start heating my oil as the batter portion is quick but very messy.
Coat each rice ball in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
Deep fry until golden brown.
I like to garnish them with parsley and a cream sauce, but my husband prefers a marinara style sauce for dipping so we always end up having a cream sauce.
Yummy!