Arrancini

My friend Alessandro introduced me to these and I first tried them at Jaime's Italian in Bristol, yum, yum, hooked ever since!  They are little balls of risotto surrounded in crispy breadcrumbs. They taste amazing, but be prepared to get messy.  And you're going to need a deep fat fryer ;)

• 500g risotto rice
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
• 2 onions very finely chopped
• 6 large closed cup mushrooms very finely chopped
• 1 large glass white wine
• Chicken stock (some)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 ball mozzarella
• 1 tub breadcrumbs (ASDAs own are the best, or Japanese panko crumbs)
• 4 eggs
• 100g plain flour, seasoned with salt and pepper

Start by making the risotto, put the oil in the pan and gently sauted the onions and garlic for around 5 minutes. Once starting to get soft and translucent add the mushrooms and cook for another few minutes.

Add the whole bag of risotto rice to the pan and allow it to lightly fry along with the onions and mushrooms, keep it moving around the pan so it doesn't stick for around 2 minutes.

Then add the glass of white wine and enough chicken stock to cover the rice.  Turn the pan down to a very low simmer and keep stirring to stop the rice sticking.  When the rice has soaked up the stock and started to dry out, add more and keep adding for around 30 minutes until the rice is soft.  Stir the risotto until you cook off as much liquid as possible, leaving the rice a little wet.  Season to taste with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Switch on the deep fat fryer to warm up.

When the rice is cool, but not cold (you need to be able to mould it), set out 3 flat dishes, one with flour in, one with the 4 eggs (beaten) and one with breadcrumbs in.  

Cut the mozzarella ball up into around 25 small pieces 1cm x 1cm.

Take about a tablespoon of rice in your hand and squash into a flat ball put a piece of the mozzarella on top and add another tablespoon of rice to your hand and mould a ball with the cheese inside it.  Once it holds its shape, roll gently in the flour, then in the egg mixture and finally in the breadcrumbs so it is well coated.  Place on a plate and start again to make the next ball.

Keep going until all the rice mixture is used.  I made about 24 arrancini with this mix, they were a little varying in size but most about 4-5cm diameter.

Once the balls are made, cook them in the deep fat fryer, 5 at a time, until the outside is golden brown (about 5-6 minutes) and place on a baking tray.

Before serving as a starter, reheat in an over (around 180 degrees) for 10-15 minutes to crisp up and warm.  Serve with a dressing of pesto and olive oil and caesar salad.

Chargrilled Garden Vegetables

• 1 large fennel bulb
• 1 large aubergine
• 1 red pepper
• 3 green courgettes
• 2 yellow globe courgettes
• 6 baby leeks

For the dressing

• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red chile
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Extras if want to make it more salady

• 1/2lb fresh mozzarella
• 1/2 cup pitted black olives
• 3 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh basil

Mix the dressing ingredients together put in large closeable bag (eg. zip lock)

Prepare the veg as follows and add to the dressing bag. Cut fennel bulb in half long ways and add both halves. Slice aubergine into thick long slices about 2cm thick. Cut sides away from pepper so have 4 large flat pieces. Cut courgettes in half, then slice each half longways to get long slices about 0.5-1cm thick. Slice the globe courgettes into circles the same. Just add the leeks at the end.

Ensure all veg get coated in dressing, then can leave in fridge till ready to grill later.

When grilling the veg, keep the remaining dressing from the bag as you will use it later.

Start with the fennel first and place cut side down on the grill, over direct medium heat, with the lid closed as much as possible for 5-7 mins. Turn the fennel over and grill for another 3 mins, then move over indirect heat, with lid closed as much as possible, until crisp and tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 12 to 15 mins. Remove from grill and leave to cool.

Place other veg on grill, and cook until chargrilled on each side but not overdone.

Cut away the hard triangular core of the fennel and then cut the remaining into 1/2 inch pieces. Cut the other veg into similar sizes and place all in a large bowl. Pour dressing over and toss all pieces in dressing. Either serve like this or add the salad ingredients as well.

Adapted from Weber's Charcoal Grilling - the art of cooking with live fire by Jamie Purviance http://www.amazon.co.uk/Webers-Charcoal-Grilling-Cooking-Live/dp/0376020474/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1248604136&sr=8-1