Recipe - How to make Arancini with meat ragù

Introduction to the recipe

Arancini with meat ragù are by far the most traditional and well-known throughout Sicily. Every city and family has its own variant. As with pasta al forno (oven-baked pasta), some prefer it with a simple ragù sauce, while others love to add cheese, ham or hard-boiled eggs.

To achieve the best possible results with these arancini, we recommend preparing a ragù sauce that is thick and concentrated. In addition to being more flavourful, it will make it easier to mould the arancini, because the sauce will not make the rice overly moist.

Traditional

Average

160 grams

Meat

Ingredients for about 12 arancini

For rice:

500 grams of rice ("Roma" and "Originario" rices, mixed in equal doses)
1.1 liter of vegetable stock
2 bags of saffron
10 grams of salt
60-100 grams of butter

For the finish:

100 gr of flour
180 ml of water
2 eggs
150 gr of bread crumbs

For the filling:

200 gr of minced pork
200 gr of minced veal
100 gr of peas
½ onion
3 tablespoons of tomato concentrate
½ glass of white wine
extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper

Preparation of rice and filling

Rice

How to prepare the rice:

In a saucepan, put the broth, the butter, the saffron and the salt
When the stock is boiling, add the rice and mix well
Cover and cook over low heat until the rice absorbs all the broth and is cooked but al dente
When cooked, stir, pour the rice on a cold surface and spread evenly to allow rapid cooling
When the rice is cool down, it is ready to prepare the arancini

Important

It is important to let the rice dry well during cooking. It should not be too hot or too wet, or it could stick to the mold.

For more informations about rice, Click here.

The filling

Finely chop the onion and fry in a oil thread
Add the minced pork and veal and brown over high heat
Add the peas and mix well
Add some white wine and let it reduce
Dissolve the tomato concentrate in a glass of water and add to the meat
Lower the heat, add salt and pepper and cook until the stock is creamy, then turn off the heat and allow to cool
Shape the arancini and put in the fridge a couple of hours before passing the arancini in the batter

How to shape the arancini

1 - Fill the base of the Arancinotto with rice and use a spoon to pack it down firmly.

2 - Put the lid on the base and insert the plunger as far as it will go.

3 - Remove the plunger and spoon your filling into the central hole, packing it in with a teaspoon to ensure there is a generous amount.

4 - Cover the top with a thin layer of rice and press it down using the other end of the plunger.

5 - Take the cover back off of the Arancinotto and gently remove your arancino.

How to frying the arancini

The finishing touch

Put the arancini in the batter and in the bread crumbs as follows:

In a bowl, place the flour
Add the egg and water and beat well with whips
When the batter is smooth and dense, pass the arancini
Immediately after having passed them in the batter, pass the arancini in bread crumbs

Frying

Fry in plenty of oil until golden brown, to ensure your arancini fry up perfectly, use one of the following oils: peanut oil, olive oil, or palm oil.
Heat the oil to the ideal temperature, 190°C, either in a frying pan or by setting the temperature on your deep fryer.
If using a pan, you can make sure that the oil has reached the proper temperature by dropping in a bread crumb. If it sizzles, then the oil is ready.
Immerse the arancini gently in the oil, only a few at a time, so as to prevent the temperature of the oil from falling too low.
When they are done, place the arancini on absorbent paper, then serve.
Serve the arancini.

For more information about Finishing and Frying, Click here.

Enjoy your arancini!

Variation

You can make your ragù richer by adding a cheese that melts well or, as is the tradition in some cities, hard-boiled eggs and ham.

Bonus idea

To make your sauce creamier and sweeter, substitute the tomato paste with about 300 ml of cherry-tomato purée.

HISTORICAL NOTE

The most common variant of the traditional arancino uses a filling made from ground meat and tomato. However, in the past it was very common to use a sort of thick stew, much like French ragoût (“A dish consisting of chunks of meat and vegetables cooked in a sauce”), which is, in fact, the source of the Italian word ragù. The French noun is derived from the verb ragoûter, which means “to enhance the flavour (goût)”. Such a filling does, indeed, enhance our arancini to perfection.

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