Visiting Italy is a really emotional journey, In Florence the air is so romantic there is an ease when walking though the city! and visiting some churches not all of them (more than 200 churches) Then in our way south, arriving in Rome is just like entering a history film set, I was amaze with the feeling of being in a place with such history!
Then arriving at our last destination, Sicily! the largest island in the Mediterranean. Its cuisine is the result of Greek, Arab, Spanish, and French influences over the centuries. Sicily's traditional pantry is filled with fresh ingredients like vegetables (eggplants, peppers, tomatoes), dried nuts (almonds, pistachios), Seafood, and fish (clams, octopus, calamari, crab, anchovies, sardines, fishes), they often use honey and cheese mixtures in their desserts!
I felt connected right away, I don't know if this thanks to my ancestors or just the inviting earthy feeling, that surrounds the entire village!
Made me feel like I belong there and that this was supposed to be part of my life. Of course, what you eat is almost as important as where you stay on your holidays. Luckily we rented a gorgeous Sicilian villa that we found through this page.
When strolling the streets you must try Sicily’s favorite street food, arancine or arancini, and a personal favorite as well is rice balls filled with your favorites: either capers pesto, meat sauce, mozzarella, ham and butter; and with a crunchy coating.
Here I will try to recreate one of my favorite recipes, I hope you can taste a bit of my Sicily through this recipe! so Enjoy!
One thing is clear, in Italy, eating is a pleasure, they savour all occasions, it's not an obligation to eat (or eat to live) There is the other way around, live to eat! and as you only have on life to live, make it a good one!
Arancini
Ingredients
- 1 lb of arborio rice this is the type of rice used to make risotto
- 4 oz of fresh mozzarella grated
- 4 oz of ham chopped
- 1 tablespoon of butter chopped
- ¼ cup of Parmesan cheese grated
- 2 eggs
- 1 ½ cups of breadcrumbs
- 1 cup of all purpose flour
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
- a little olive oil
- Vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Cook the rice in salted water until soft. Drain it well, add the grated cheese, some freshly ground black pepper and mix well. Let it cool.
- Prepare the breadcrumbs in a plate or a serving tray, put the eggs in a bowl and beat them a little, the flour in another serving plate, then your filling of choice in another plate (for this recipe I chose to fill the balls with a ham and butter mixture), take a spoonful of the cooled rice and spread it in your hand, add your filling in the middle and with your other hand try closing the rice over the filling, put the rice ball aside and make all the balls you can with this recipe, in my case I don't like making them too large, (mine are a lemon size) so I get between 12 and 15 balls from this recipe. When you finish all the rice, then roll the balls, one by one in the flour, then in the egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Fry in hot oil (I prefer that the oil level is up the at least the half of the balls so that way I only have to turned them once in order to get a perfect color all around) until golden brown and place then place in absorbent paper to remove any excess oil.
- Warm up the sauce, when ready spoon over the serving plates and then place 3 to 4 balls per plate, serve right away.
cheyanne says
I love arancini... so crunchy on the outside and seriously delish on the inside. Yours look fantastic♡
Petit Gourmet says
🙂 Thanks! I love them too! let's throw together my arancini and your meatballs! and Will call it a quiet thursday afternoon! hehehe