A typical Italian dish is arancini. Arancini are - originally Sicilian - deep-fried rice balls with a coating of breadcrumbs. In short: a bitterball, but made of risotto. And, of course, we Dutch like bitterballen! So we got to work. This snack fits perfectly on your (vegan) Italian drinks board.
Traditional risotto balls in a new - vegan - twist
Arancini have been a household name in Sicily for centuries. The name comes from arancia, the Italian word for orange, because the balls resemble small oranges in shape and colour. Originally they were filled with ragù, peas and cheese, but now there are countless variants - from truffle and mushrooms to vegan versions like these risotto balls. In Italy, people often eat them as snacks or street food, but they also do great on a drinks board. The outside is crispy, the inside deliciously creamy. A snack you really must try once!
Getting started with vegan arancini, Italian risotto balls
Kitchenware
- cutting board and knife
- come
- casserole
- saucepan (or fryer)
Ingredients
- 150 gr risotto rice
- 200 gr mushroom mix
- 2 vegetable stock cubes
- 1500 ml water
- 1 splash of white wine
- 1 shallot
- 1 toe garlic
- 1 handful of fresh rosemary
- 100 gr vegan Parmesan cheese Gran Murgiano from Vegaliano
- 200 ml vegetable milk
- 100 gr patent flour
- 75 gr panko
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Bring 1500 ml of water to the boil with 2 cubes of vegetable stock.
- Finely chop the shallot, garlic, mushrooms & rosemary.
- Heat a frying pan on low heat with some olive oil and fry the shallot first, then add the garlic. Fry briefly.
- Add the risotto rice and fry briefly until the rice grains become translucent.
- Deglaze the glazed rice grains with splash of white wine and reduce for a while until the wine is almost completely absorbed.
- Using a ladle, ladle 1 to 2 scoops of stock over to the pan of risotto so that the rice is submerged.
- Add the mushrooms and rosemary to allow the risotto to absorb all the flavours in time.
- Stir frequently so that the rice does not stick to the pan and keep adding some stock as soon as the rice has absorbed the stock previously ladled over.
- Taste regularly to check how far the risotto rice is cooked. Cooked? Turn off the heat and grate the Parmesan cheese over the pan and stir well until it is completely melted. Season to taste with salt & pepper.
- Let the risotto cool (stir occasionally in the pan so it cools down faster).
- Meanwhile, make a mixture with the whisk of the vegetable milk and flour in a bowl or deep plate.
- In another deep plate, add 75g of panko.
- Once the risotto has cooled, you can turn it into balls by hand.
- Dip each ball in the vegetable milk-flour mixture and then in the panko.
- Before serving, deep-fry for +/- 6 minutes at 200°C until the panko turns brown and the arancini become hot inside. Don't have a deep fryer? Then do so in a pan with ample oil.
- Sprinkle with some salt and serve on the Italian cocktail board.
More recipe ideas from thegreenlist.nl
- Also very festive is this trifle toet.
- For weekdays this vegan lentil soup one to remember.
- Is fennel in season? Then check out this easy fennel dish!
Sources: wikipedia.com. Photo credits: Nina van Gils.
