Sicilia – Truffle Arancini
What better way to celebrate the first day of summer than in the region emblematic of the sun, colors and scents typical of this wonderful season?
Did you get the picture? Today our truffle trip La Buona Italia takes us to SICILY, a land rich in raw materials but, above all, home of Arancini!
Now: don’t mind those who call them Arancine, we still haven’t figured out the difference (but we suspect it’s just linguistic!). The fact of the matter is that these Arancini have a soft heart of cheese and T&C Tartufata that makes them sensational even for those who call them otherwise.
We thank Tecla for accompanying us to her Sicily and for conceiving and making this super typical recipe revisited with truffles.
Read the recipe on her profile.
We will see you at the next stop!
To prepare the truffle arancini start with the rice itself, which I recommend preparing a day in advance so that it is cold enough and therefore compact.
In a pot pour l 1,1 of cold water and add the rice. Place on the stove over medium-low heat and cook for about 20 minutes. Halfway through cooking, add the saffron after diluting it in half a cup of water. Add salt to taste. Stir the rice often and let it cook until the water is totally absorbed. Turn off the heat, stir in the butter and drain the rice so that the excess starch is removed. Place the rice in a fairly large baking dish-this will allow the rice to cool more quickly. When it has cooled cover with foil and place in the refrigerator to rest.
Take the rice out again. To shape the arancini I used a regular pointed arancinotto. If you do not have one you can safely use your hands. Be careful to moisten them each time you shape the arancino, otherwise the rice will stick to your hands.
So take some of the rice and flatten it on the palm of your semi-closed hand to create space for the filling. Insert a teaspoon of tartufata, the diced cheese, top with another teaspoon of tartufata and close your arancino, giving it the classic pointed shape, typical of Catania arancini.
Proceed in this way with all the rice available. Place the arancini in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
INGREDEINTS FOR 10 TRUFFLE ARANCINI
500 g rice for arancini
1.1/1.2 l cold water
1 sachet of saffron
20 g butter
salt to taste.
For the filling
1 tin of T&C Tartufata.
250 g fontina-type cheese
For the breading
2-3 tablespoons of 00 flour
water to taste
breadcrumbs to taste
For frying
l 1.5 sunflower seed oil