Minty prawn and pea arancini
Photo by Wai Lin Coultas
Prawns, peas, mint – arancini balls make great finger food!
By Wai Lin Coultas
ORIGINATING IN 10th-century Sicily during Santa Lucia’s feast when bread and pasta are not eaten, arancini are now popularly served year round as finger food. They can be filled with a meaty ragu and specialties frequently include pistachios or mushrooms, while Romans stuff theirs with cheese. Paying homage to an abstinence from meat during Easter, this recipe also replaces the traditional deep frying with an easy oven bake, creating arancini delicately encased in extra virgin olive oil and panko breadcrumbs – perfect as a flavour-packed party snack!
Ingredients
For risotto
400g raw prawns, shelled & de-veined – shells & heads set aside
1.25l boiling water
2 cubes vegetable stock
4 tbsp softened butter
1 cup arborio rice
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 onion, peeled & finely diced
1 truss tomato, finely diced
1 head garlic, peeled & minced
1 cup pinot grigio
1 cup frozen peas, thawed
3 handfuls grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon, juiced
55g fresh baby spinach leaves
1 heaped handful fresh mint leaves, chopped
2 eggs, beaten extra virgin olive oil
For crumbing
extra virgin olive oil plain flour Panko breadcrumbs salt cracked black pepper
Instructions
• Stir fry prawn heads and shells in oil until slightly toasted and reddened. Set aside.
• Over high heat, poach de-veined prawns in the boiling water till just cooked. Remove and dice to pea-size.
• Add stock cubes, toasted prawn shells and heads to the pot and bring to boil again. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Keep warm.
• Fry celery, onion and garlic in butter till softened, then add tomato.
• Add rice and stir through to coat all grains with butter.
• Add wine and simmer until evaporated. Then stir in prawn stock, one ladle at a time, until rice is al dente. • Stir through spinach, then prawns and then peas with the last of the stock.
• Stir in cheese before stirring in lemon juice, to taste and mint last of all.
• Once risotto is cool, stir in eggs, cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Roll heaped tablespoons of chilled risotto into balls.
• Preheat oven to 180°C, and get five bowls ready – bowl 1 with seasoned plain flour, bowl 2 with oil, bowl 3 with breadcrumbs, bowl 4 with more oil and finally, bowl 5 with more breadcrumbs.
• Roll each risotto ball in the seasoned flour, then in oil, next in breadcrumbs, then back in oil, and finally in breadcrumbs again.
• Bake crumbed balls on baking paper in oven for 50 to 60 minutes till golden brown.Serve hot.
Makes 40 arancini
