Arancini siciliani (fried rice balls)
Golden, crispy rice balls stuffed with a heart of meat sauce and melted cheese, breaded and fried. You eat them hot, in your hand.
Golden, crispy rice balls stuffed with a heart of meat sauce and melted cheese, breaded and fried. You eat them hot, in your hand.
My grandparents came from Corleone, Sicily — the real one, not the movie one, you know. Over there, you buy an arancino on the street corner, still burning hot, and you bite into it as you walk. Outside it's crunchy, inside it's soft, with a heart of meat and cheese that oozes out. Watch out, it burns your tongue every time — but that's the good part, that's the taste of the old country.
- •Cooked and cooled risotto rice, tinted with saffron — a large bowl (outer shell)
- •Leftover meat ragù — a little (molten heart)
- •Caciocavallo or stringy cheese — diced (cheesy heart)
- •Eggs — a few (binder and wash)
- •Breadcrumbs — enough for breading (crust)
- •Frying oil — plenty (cooking)
Arancini siciliani (fried rice balls)
Golden, crispy rice balls stuffed with a heart of meat sauce and melted cheese, breaded and fried. You eat them hot, in your hand.
Why this dish? Pacino's grandparents came from Corleone, Sicily: the arancino is the iconic street snack of the island, sold at markets and passed down in the kitchens of the New York diaspora.
My grandparents came from Corleone, Sicily — the real one, not the movie one, you know. Over there, you buy an arancino on the street corner, still burning hot, and you bite into it as you walk. Outside it's crunchy, inside it's soft, with a heart of meat and cheese that oozes out. Watch out, it burns your tongue every time — but that's the good part, that's the taste of the old country.
Ingredients (period version)
- Cooked and cooled risotto rice, tinted with saffron — a large bowl (outer shell)
- Leftover meat ragù — a little (molten heart)
- Caciocavallo or stringy cheese — diced (cheesy heart)
- Eggs — a few (binder and wash)
- Breadcrumbs — enough for breading (crust)
- Frying oil — plenty (cooking)
Ingredients
- Arborio rice, cooked and well cooled — 400 g (uncooked) (outer shell)
- Saffron threads — 1 pinch (color and aroma)
- Meat ragù (leftover from Sunday gravy) — 150 g (molten heart)
- Caciocavallo or mozzarella, diced — 100 g (cheesy heart)
- Eggs — 3 (binder and wash)
- Flour + breadcrumbs — 50 g + 150 g (breading)
- Frying oil — 1 liter (cooking)
Method
- Mix cooled rice with saffron (infused in a little hot water) and one beaten egg until pliable.
- Take a handful of rice, make a well, place a little ragù and a cheese cube inside, close into a ball.
- Roll each ball in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs.
- Fry in oil at 175°C until golden brown.
- Drain on paper towels and eat hot, with the heart still runny.
How it was made : In Sicily, the arancino (shaped like a small orange, hence its name) has been made for centuries with rice introduced by the Arabs and saffron. It was the ultimate street food: calorie-dense and portable, adopted by emigrants in Italian neighborhoods of New York.
The contemporary twist : Present arancini cut in half to reveal the oozing heart, on a slate board, with a small bowl of tomato sauce for dipping.
Al Pacino · Charactorium