Recipe - How to make Arancini with Sausage and Pumpkin

Introduction to the recipe

Pumpkin is the undisputed star of autumn and winter cuisine. Its slightly sweet flavour makes it a perfect match for pork.

Indeed, the pairing of pumpkin and sausage is very common in first courses of all kinds.

When used as a filling, the result is an arancino with a truly explosive flavour, loved by adults and children alike.

Gourmet

Easy

160 grams

Meat

Ingredients for about 12 arancini

For rice:

500 grams of rice (Roma, Originario)
1.1 liter of vegetable stock
2 bags of saffron
10 grams of salt
60 grams of butter

For the finish:

100 gr of flour
180 ml of water
2 eggs
150 gr of bread crumbs

For the filling:

300 gr of sausage
300 gr of red pumpkin pulp
extra virgin olive oil
salt, black pepper

Preparation of rice and filling

Rice

How to prepare the rice:

In a saucepan, put the broth, the butter, the saffron and the salt
When the stock is boiling, add the rice and mix well
Cover and cook over low heat until the rice absorbs all the broth and is cooked but al dente
When cooked, stir, pour the rice on a cold surface and spread evenly to allow rapid cooling
When the rice is cool down, it is ready to prepare the arancini

Important

It is important to let the rice dry well during cooking. It should not be too hot or too wet, or it could stick to the mold.

For more informations about rice, Click here.

The filling

Chop the pumpkin into small pieces. Steam it until cooked, then purée it until its texture is smooth, creamy and free of lumps
Remove the sausage from its casing and crumble it into bits using your fingers
Brown it in a pan with a drizzle of oil, then add the pumpkin purée and allow it to sauté in the oil so that it takes on the flavour of the sausage, adding salt and pepper to taste
Let the filling cool

How to shape the arancini

1 - Fill the base of the Arancinotto with rice and use a spoon to pack it down firmly.

2 - Put the lid on the base and insert the plunger as far as it will go.

3 - Remove the plunger and spoon your filling into the central hole, packing it in with a teaspoon to ensure there is a generous amount.

4 - Cover the top with a thin layer of rice and press it down using the other end of the plunger.

5 - Take the cover back off of the Arancinotto and gently remove your arancino.

How to frying the arancini

The finishing touch

Put the arancini in the batter and in the bread crumbs as follows:

In a bowl, place the flour
Add the egg and water and beat well with whips
When the batter is smooth and dense, pass the arancini
Immediately after having passed them in the batter, pass the arancini in bread crumbs

Frying

Fry in plenty of oil until golden brown, to ensure your arancini fry up perfectly, use one of the following oils: peanut oil, olive oil, or palm oil.
Heat the oil to the ideal temperature, 190°C, either in a frying pan or by setting the temperature on your deep fryer.
If using a pan, you can make sure that the oil has reached the proper temperature by dropping in a bread crumb. If it sizzles, then the oil is ready.
Immerse the arancini gently in the oil, only a few at a time, so as to prevent the temperature of the oil from falling too low.
When they are done, place the arancini on absorbent paper, then serve.
Serve the arancini with sauce on the side.

For more information about Finishing and Frying, Click here.

Enjoy your arancini!

Varation

To make the filling even creamier, add a little béchamel sauce.

Bonus idea

To really bring out the flavour of the pumpkin, add some of the purée to the rice while it is cooking.

HISTORICAL NOTE

’A cucuzza?! Falla comu voi sempri cucuzza è! (“Pumpkin?! Any way you cook it, it still tastes like pumpkin!”) is a common saying in Sicily. However, while it may be true as a metaphor, in culinary terms it is quite false. Cucurbita maxima is extremely versatile: it can be made into jams and desserts, it stands in for liver in the Palermo dish ficatu d’i setti cannola, and it is even used as an Halloween decoration. No, it isn’t true that however you prepare it, pumpkin always tastes the same, quite the contrary! Pumpkin is anything but boring.

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