Yesterday was
Santa Lucia in Palermo.
Santa Lucia occurs every year, on December 13! I wish I was there!
The importance of this feast is due to a real historical event, happened in 1646, during a great famine, that was hitting strong the city of Palermo, the people started to say prayers to that Saint and a miracle happened: a big ship full of corn appearing in the Port of the city, saving the all citizen from the death.
From that day, every year the feast of Santa Lucia has been celebrated in the city, avoiding almost every kind of corn or flour. So Santa Lucia as also known in town as the Feast of Arancine, or St Arancina, or rice balls.
And for this occasion I'm going to show you how to make your own arancine al burro!
Ingredients:
For 20 big arancine, or 40 small ones
- Arborio rice 36 oz (1kg)
- Onion 1
- Vegetable bullion 2 to make 10.5 cups (2 1/2 liters) of broth
- Butter 3.5 oz (100 gr)
- Saffron
- parmesan cheese 9 oz (250 gr)
- Breadcrumb
- Ham 10 oz (300 gr)
- Mozzarella cheese or cheddar 17/18 oz (500 gr)
- Corn oil
Preparation:
1. Start making the broth, in a large pot pour the water and add the bullion and the saffron.
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2. Now the rice. Put some olive oil in a large pot and the finely chopped onion, add the rice, stir and add the broth when necessary. When the rice is ready add the butter and the parmesan cheese and mix together
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3. Done that, place the rice in a large serving place to rest and cool down.
4. Cut the mozzarella cheese and the ham in small cubes
5. Place the breadcrumbs in a bowl
6. When the rice is cold you can start making the rice balls. Place a small amount on the palm of your hand (img 3)
Get ready to get "dirty"... look at my hand lol!!! But it definitively worth it!!
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7. In the middle place a cube of mozzarella and some ham. (img 4)
8. With the same amount of rice cover the half that you have on your palm and seal it, trying to give it the shape of a ball. (img 5)
9. Set aside and repeat until the rice is gone.
10. Roll al the rice balls into breadcrumb and when they are all ready you can start deep frying them.
Make sure you are using a deep frying pan, because the arancine need to be completely covered in oil.
11. When they get a nice golden brown color place in a large plate covered with kitchen paper, so it will absorb the exceeding oil.
12. This should be the result!
Buon appetito!!! ˆˆ
