Arancini - Sicilian Fried Rice Balls with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Cooked rice

1. 8
   In a pot, bring the chicken stock and saffron to a boil, add the rice and stir once.

   StovePot
2. 9
   Turn down to low, cover and simmer about 18 minutes without opening the lid, until the liquid is absorbed.

   StoveLid

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 10
   Turn off the heat and leave covered 5–10 minutes.

   💡Don't open the lid during cooking: the steam is what cooks the top layer. A towel between the pot and the lid absorbs the drips, so the rice doesn't get soggy.

For the Crispy Coating

1. 11
   Beat the eggs in a wide bowl.

   Bowl

   💡Work with one "dry" hand for the dry coating and one "wet" hand for the egg, so your fingers don't get caked in layers of coating.
2. 12
   Spread the crumbs on another flat plate.

To assemble

1. 13
   Transfer the rice to a bowl and chill in the fridge 1 hour, until completely cold.

   BowlRefrigerator
2. 14
   In a bowl, mix the rice, now cold, with the Parmesan, eggs, salt and black pepper.

   Bowl
3. 15
   With wet hands, take tbsp of the mixture, place a mozzarella cube in the center with a teaspoon of the tomato paste, close the rice around it and roll into a ball.
4. 16
   Pass each ball through the coating stations in order, until well coated on all sides.
5. 17
   Heat the oil' in a deep pot' to 180°C (355°F) and fry the balls in batches for about 4 minutes, until golden. Transfer to paper towels.

   StoveSlotted spoonCandy/oil thermometerDeep pot for fryingPaper towels

   💡Keep the oil at 170–180°C: too cold, and the food soaks up oil; too hot, and it browns outside before the inside cooks. Without a thermometer, dip the tip of a wooden spoon in the oil: when medium bubbles form around it right away, the oil is hot enough.

   💡Don't overload the oil: every piece that goes in cools it down. Fry one piece as a test, then the rest in several batches, and transfer to paper towels.
6. 18
   Serve hot with tomato sauce.