Name: Arancini di Riso (Sicilian Rice Fritters)
Yield: Makes About 20
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 50 g/2 oz prosciutto, finely chopped; 50 g/2 oz/½ cup mushrooms, sliced; 100 g/3 ½ oz/scant 1 cup cooked peas; 80 g/3 ¼ oz mozzarella cheese, diced; sunflower oil, for deep-frying; sea salt and ground black pepper; 600 g/1 lb 6 oz/2 ½ cups risotto rice, preferably vialone nano; 90-105 ml/6-7 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 15 g/½ oz/1 tbsp butter; tomato sauce (see Cook’s Tip); 1 quantity ragù (optional); 3 eggs, beaten; 45 ml/3 tbsp plain/all-purpose flour; 90 ml/6 tbsp white dried breadcrumbs; 1.5 litres/2 ½ pints/6 cups hot chicken, meat or vegetable stock; 1 onion, finely chopped; 75 g/3 oz/6 tbsp unsalted butter

Preparation info

Makes About
20

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

The Italian Regional Cookbook

By Valentina Harris

Published 2017

About

These delicious rice balls are on sale at every café in Sicily, and are eaten as a quick snack. Few dishes say as much about the various nationalities who have contributed to the island over the centuries: the rice came from the Arabs; the cheese (traditionally canestrato fresco but here replaced with mozzarella) was contributed by the Greeks; the ragù derives from the French ragoût, and the tomato dipping sauce came from the Spanish. Arancini di riso are the pride of every rotisserie or Ta