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| Pumpkin, Feta and Chorizo Arancini |
Pumpkin, Feta and Chorizo Arancini
Arancini are Italian deep-fried risotto balls. Yup. It doesn't get more delicious then that!
Once you know how to make them, the possibilities for flavours and fillings are endless. I had pumpkin, feta and chorizo in my fridge so they're the ingredients I used. But you could do anything, spinach and mushroom, tomato and basil, bacon and mozzarella cheese, truffles if you're feeling fancy or just plain risotto if you're feeling not-so-fancy.
You will need... (makes 16 balls)
1 small brown onion
1 clove garlic
1 cup arborio (medium-short grain) risotto rice
2 cups hot chicken stock (I use salt-reduced chicken stock cubes)
150gr butternut pumpkin, skin and seeds removed.
100gr danish feta
50gr chorizo, skin removed
30gr butter
30gr parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp picked thyme leaves
4 tsp olive oil
For crumbing and frying....
1 cup plain flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup breadcrumbs
5 cups vegetable oil in a wok or saucepan, for deep frying
salt to season
Method...
1. Turn your oven temperature to 200 degrees celsius. Dice the pumpkin into 1 cm cubes, place in a bowl, then add 2 tsp of the olive oil, a sprinkling of salt and pepper and thyme. Mix well to coat. Transfer to a baking dish or roasting pan, and place into the oven for 15 minutes or until tender and golden.
2. Meanwhile, finely dice the onion and garlic. Place a heavy based saucepan over medium heat, add the remaining olive oil to the saucepan and once heated add the onion and garlic. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring, until onion becomes translucent (please don't let it brown as this affects the colour and flavour of the risotto).
3. Add the raw rice to the cooked onion. Cook, stirring for a further 5 minutes on low. Ladle enough stock into the saucepan to just cover the rice. Continue to cook on low, stirring occasionally, until the stock has been absorbed. Add about 100mls of water at a time, allowing each amount of stock to absorb into the rice before adding more. Continue this process until all the stock is absorbed. Taste the rice to make sure it's cooked. If it's still underdone, add more stock. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Stir in the cooked pumpkin, and break up a little bit so the colouring goes throughout the risotto, but you still have a few chunky bits. Stir in the butter and parsley until melted.
5. In a small, separate frypan, lightly fry the chorizo, then add to the risotto. Finally add the feta, fold it in so it lightly melts but doesn't dissolve completely. Spoon the mixture into a tray and place in the fridge overnight.
To crumb and fry....
1. Remove the risotto from the fridge. Use wet hands, to scoop out a heaped tablespoon of mixture and roll between your hands to shape into even balls. Lay out rolled balls on a tray.
2. Get two large, shallow plates and one bowl. In the bowl, crack 2 eggs and add a cup of milk. Whisk together with a fork. In one plate, add a cup of flour, and the second plate add a cup of breadcrumbs.
3. Add the 5 cups of vegetable oil to a wok or large saucepan, and heat over a medium-high heat.
4. To crumb, roll one arancini at a time in the flour, shake off excess, dip in the egg wash, shake off excess again, then roll in the breadcrumbs. Place on a tray. Once you feel confident doing this, you can speed it up by doing 3-4 at a time. Always use one hand for the dry ingredients and one hand for the wet ingredients so you don't end up crumbing your fingers.
5. Once all the arancini are rolled, sprinkle a little bit of the breadcrumbs into the oil, if they sizzle then you're ready to start frying. Have some absorbent paper towel on a tray ready, as well as a slotted spoon or spider (no, not the hairy one with 8 legs- one of these).
6. Fry the arancini, in batches (only a few at a time so you don't overcrowd the fryer), until golden brown and crisp. Remove with the slotted spoon and transfer to the absorbent paper.
7. Once all arancini are cooked, season with a little salt, and serve hot. If you are cooking them for later, you can reheat them in the oven at around 220 degrees celsius for 5 minutes
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