Arancini - how to make them and cook them in an air fryer

Arancini means 'oranges', that they are supposed to resemble when cooked, Arancini are a Sicilian street food, a ball of rice with various fillings, usually a ragu. In bars in Sicily you may be given small ones the size of golf balls and these just usually have a little cheese inside. Sometimes they are formed into different shapes to differentiate the fillings, but I was happy with round for a first attempt.

I watched a lot of You Tube videos and the method below is the correct version. Firstly you don't make a risotto, the ragu is not the same as your usual that you make to go with pasta. Arancini need to sit overnight. You can breadcrumb them or use a 50/50 water to flour mix. Yes they are fiddly and yes it's worth it.

Rice

Fry half a very finely chopped onion in a little olive oil till golden. Add your arbo rice then add enough chicken stock that you think that it would take to cook the rice through. Bring it to a simmer and gently cook until just done, during this time if you can take a little of the ragu and add it also. Stir if it needs it but what you are aiming for is the rice to remain sticky. Stir in a little Parmesan cheese, and allow to cool. If you are in a hurry put it on a baking tray and put it in the freezer for a bit.

Ragu

Fry half a finely chopped onion, add mince and brown, finely chopped carrot, add a garlic clove, add a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, a pinch of nutmeg, about a third of a tube of tomato puree - fry it for a minute, then add a glass of white wine and reduce. Cook until the meat is done, add a little water as it cooks but the aim is to have a rich sauce that is quite dry.  Allow to cool, 

Assembly

If the sauce is too runny put it in a wire colander.

Make some fine breadcrumbs
Beat an egg
Cut some mozzerella into small pieces - about the size of dice

Arrange your rice, ragu, and alongside a bowl of water, a hand needs to be wet to smooth the rice and form the ball.

So take some rice in one hand and spread it out, push it in the middle, place a little ragu in the middle, add a couple of pieces of cheese, take some more rice and cover and form your ball, add little bits of rice to fill any gaps. With a wet hand smooth the ball. Dip/roll about in egg and breadcrumb, leave overnight - what you are aiming for is the rice ball to dry a little.

On one video that I saw the cook was deep frying the Arancini and was asked, how long, and she replied ages. So heat an air fryer to 200, using a pastry brush paint olive oil on the rice ball and place several in the air fryer, turn occasionally and cook until they look like the pic at the top of the page about 10 - 15 mins.