Healthy and nutritious vegetarian and baked Sicilian arancini are even more so!
Do not turn up your nose, the advice is to try this simple recipe first that will leave you speechless, for a happy evening with friends and a tasty and light aperitif or for a picnic with friends, even for those who are not vegetarian, or even for those on a diet .
And finally, you can't miss the vegan version of this delicacy of Mediterranean cuisine, without eggs or cheese!
Baked vegetarian and vegan arancini
Ingredients for about twenty arancini about:
> 250g of small-grain rice (Rome or Sant Andrea for example),
> a shallot,
> little white wine,
> a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil,
> a sachet of saffron,
> a mozzarella,
> a cup of boiled peas,
> 2 eggs,
> 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan,
> 3 tablespoons of breadcrumbs,
> a pinch of nutmeg,
> salt and pepper.
Preparation : prepare the risotto in the classic manner, frying it in a little oil with a chopped shallot and blending it with white wine. Cook the rice well absorbing all the vegetable broth, add pepper, nutmeg and Parmesan, let it cool and harden. When the rice is well compacted or "glued", form balls with your hands, make a hole in the center and place a cube of mozzarella and some boiled peas.
Close them by compacting them with the palms of your hands, giving it the classic pear shape. Go ahead until the rice finishes. Beat the eggs with salt and pepper, pass each arancino first in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs; lay on the baking sheet covered with non-stick paper, anoint the arancini with a little olive oil and cook at 200 ° C for about 20/25 minutes, turning them a couple of times.
Saffron alternative : another original variant is to use 60 grams of tomato sauce, chopped fresh herbs to taste (parsley, oregano, chives, basil) to season the basic rice instead of saffron, thus creating arancini "alla pizzaiola", also replacing peas with black olives in the filling.
Arancini in vegan version
The vegan version of the arancini involves the use of flaxseed gel instead of eggs. This is achieved by soaking a handful of seeds as they are or shredded for a few hours, then filtering everything.
Instead of parmesan and mozzarella, you can use flake yeast and vegan mozzarella or soy cream.
Curiosity : as The food newspaper explains, Sicily is torn about the history of the true origin of the arancino! Certain facts seem to be the Arab origin of the dish and the etymology that would derive from the fruit the well-known form.
