Spicy 'Nduja Arancini
I have been making arancini for about a billion years – because they always hit the spot and are easier to make than you think!
2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 5 cloves garlic, crushed ½ red capsicum, finely chopped sea salt and ground pepper 1 cup arborio rice ¼ cup white wine
3¼ cups good-quality vegetable or chicken stock
120 grams ’nduja, chopped, or soft chorizo squeezed from the casing
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
150-gram block mozzarella, cut into 1.5cm cubes
3 cups breadcrumbs 3 large eggs, whisked 5 cups high-heat cooking oil
1 cup good-quality egg mayonnaise, whisked with 1 crushed clove garlic
Heat the olive oil in a big saucepan, add the onion, garlic and capsicum and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes over a medium-low heat, then add the rice and cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook for 2 minutes while heating the stock in a separate saucepan. Once most of the wine is absorbed, add ⅔ cup stock.
Keep stirring, adding more warm stock as it becomes absorbed, ensuring the rice never dries out, for approximately 25 minutes. With 10 minutes to go, add the ’nduja and stir so that it ‘melts’ into the rice. Once all the stock is used up and the risotto is cooked, remove it from the heat and stir through the grated parmesan. Transfer to a container and chill until cool.
Take a tablespoon of cold risotto and poke a cube of mozzarella in the middle. Roll into a ball, then roll in breadcrumbs to coat. Repeat with all of the arancini.
Next, dip each ball in the whisked egg, then roll in breadcrumbs again. You should end up with about 33. Store in the fridge for at least an hour before cooking and up to overnight.
Heat the cooking oil in a large, deep saucepan, until it has a sheen on the surface and a bread cube dropped in pops up to the surface and turns golden in about 20 seconds. Fry the arancini in batches of 5-6 at a time for 3-4 minutes, until golden and heated through. Serve immediately with the garlic-spiked mayonnaise. MAKES 33