If you live in Sicily you know: half of the chats between friends and relatives is about eating well. We talk about food even while eating and even when we are finished (and it ends only when we are well beyond the sense of satiety, otherwise for the grandmother "nun manciasti nenti!") Aperitif? Brunch? Here there are only three appointments with food: breakfast, lunch and dinner. And I assure you that they are enough ...
Recurring object of the aforementioned chats is the fixed nail of every Sicilian: where to eat the best arancino of Sicily . It would be easier, however, to establish whether the egg or the hen was born before. Because we Sicilians do not even agree on the genre: arancino or arancino? But this is another story ... Each capital has its own tradition (its breading, its type of sauce/meat sauce, etc.) and its parochialism, every rotisserie its secrets. When you embark on discussions on arancino between Sicilians, you just have to hope that it will end in reasonable time with a diplomatic and inevitable de gustibus non disputandum est , otherwise prepare for endless arguments that will end up making you pass the night in white ...
In light of my hyperuranic idea of ​​arancino (which is almost never fully satisfied by my countless tastings around Sicily), I decided to try my hand in the stove and bring out my version of the arancino. With humility and no pretense to give you the vera recipe but only an interpretation of the Arancino, I do it like this.


FIRST ASSUMPTION: THE RICE MUST NOT BE COOKED

I always use quality risotto rice, for example Carnaroli or Rome, because I do not cook rice according to a predetermined ratio between water and rice (mostly traditional method) but risotto, then adding broth until I get the kind desired cooking. Risotto rice is particularly suitable because it releases a certain quantity of starch into the liquid in which it is cooked, which will then be the glue that will hold the rice grains together to shape the arancino. For the risotto cooking , referring to the method masterfully described by Alla Bay in Cooks becomes , which for me is a sort of culinary Bible, which provides as required steps (obviousness) for the Milanese ...) toasting, risotto cooking and final creaming. If the arancino is made with meat sauce, use a meat broth , made with the same type of meat from the sauce. So I sauté the shallots, brown the meat (low heat, otherwise the shallots are burnt) and add a lot of water in relation to the amount of rice I wish to cook (with a kilo of rice you can also make 30-40 arancini) . The more meat is used for the broth, the broth is more flavoursome: but this is the discovery of America in the bagghiolo , as we like to say in Sicily ... I do not put salt in the broth: I gradually rise the risotto while I cook it. So I say another obvious: taste as you cook and assessing the flavor add salt in moderation. Halfway through cooking add a lot of sauce (of the sauce we'll talk about later) enough to color the rice sufficiently. When the rice is cooked (strictly al dente !!!), add the sauce, manteco with a little extra virgin olive oil and parmesan / grana / pecorino (de gustibus ...) until you reach the taste that most satisfies me: it must be a all effects a very tasty risotto! Then I put the risotto in a bowl, let it cool, put it in the fridge and forget it until the next day. Yes, you read that right, I forget it until the next day. The rice will continue to absorb liquids: if it is overcooked, the next day I will find myself with an uneatable piece of meat.


SECOND ASSUMPTION: THE SIMILBARILLA SAUCE IS NOT GOOD ...

Certainly, with a nice ready sauce taken from the supermarket shelf, you would save a couple of hours of work. However to get a good arancino you have to start from the best possible sauce that you can cook. On the sauce / ragù (in relation to the geographical coordinates changes the term, but the substance is the same), all the grandmothers and Sicilian mothers would make me school and after-school. I still do it anyway. I start from a sauté of shallot, celery and carrot, on a very low flame, otherwise the shallot is burned. I add meat of first choice (tender, very tender) of beef and pork (also sausage, to give a nice blow of flavor, which in the pachin is kneaded with white wine), cut with a nice sharp knife, by hand, in small cubes . After a while 'add a nice spoon of tomato paste, amalgamate and immediately add the tomato sauce (datterino and cherry). Salt and sugar (to balance the acidity of the tomato a little), add a few bay leaves and let it simmer for about an hour. When cooked almost finished I also regulate pepper and add a few leaves of basil and mint (when they are fresh and available). The aim is to obtain a little liquid sauce, very concentrated .
There are many variations of sauce, with peas, without peas, with only sautéed onion, with the nuance of white or red wine, etc. etc. Sooner or later I will be able to try them all ...
I add a simple commentary on the wine (which eventually fades on the meat, before adding the concentrate and the past): I, just like the good Allan Bay, add it only without alcohol (just heat it first, in a saucepan, to make it evaporate), otherwise you may add bitterness and acidity to a dish that is already sour, as tomato-based.


THIRD ASSUMPTION: THE DOUBLE BAKING

The next day, with the hand closed palm, in a bowl, you collect as much rice as necessary to wrap a small piece of the best cheese "soft" that you can get: fresh tuma, canestrato, provola ragusana, etc. The amount of cheese must be well proportioned to the size of the rice ball: my advice is not to exceed the size. Then gently roll this ball of rice in a bowl of bread crumbs, dip it in beaten eggs, let it drain the excess egg and roll it again in the breadcrumbs. I let the arancini rest a little in the fridge, so that the egg dries and solidifies a bit.
FOURTH ASSUMPTION: TEMPERATURE AND FRYER OIL

Fry them in fryers at 165-170 degrees in plenty of peanut oil (the oil must completely cover the arancini), until they are abundantly golden. Frying them in warmer oil you risk not to melt the cheese inside the arancino and burn them externally. The fryer gives the uniformity of cooking that I never managed to give in pot or pan.

HOW THE ARANCINO MUST BE PRESENTED

The arancino's breading must be crispy, golden. defined rice grains , separable from each other. The rice should not be dry, but as moist and seasoned as an excellent risotto. The overall flavor must be full and tasty. Accompany with a Nero d'Avola Rosato Sultana and ... get ready!