Wild Mushroom Arancini

Here's a spin on a classic Arancini where I've stripped it down to the basics and built it back together using seasonal foraged ingredients. I used an arborio rice and prepared as you would a traditional risotto, layering in a stock fortified with wild mushrooms, parmesan cheese, butter and a ramp puree. Any wild mushroom can be used in this recipe but since it's spring I'm using morels and chicken of the woods mushrooms (separately). Along with the wild mushrooms they're packed with hunks of caciocavallo from Jersey Girl Cheese. I'm still on the fence about Chicken of the Woods, but I found the method described below renders them in a way where they almost resemble bacon or pancetta. Of course you can't really go wrong with morels. These are relatively easy to make, and a great way to incorporate wild seasonal ingredients into classic recipes. Video of the whole process available below.

Ingredients

Arborio rice (2 cups)

Stock (8 cups chicken or veggie)

Wild mushrooms (1 cup cooked and diced)

Ramp puree (ramp leaves and olive oil)

Caciocavallo cheese (1.5 cups cubed into small pieces)

Parmesan cheese (3/4 cup freshly grated)

Butter (1 stick)

Salt and Pepper

All purpose flour

Plain bread crumbs

Canola Oil

Risotto Instructions

1. Heat your stock in a separate pan and bring to a low simmer. For this recipe I’m using a chicken stock fortified with wild mushrooms to add more depth.

2. Melt butter in a large pan and add in the rice. Stir well so all the rice is lubricated with the melted butter. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Slowly pour in a cup of hot broth and stir into the rice. For the next half hour, you’ll want to continue adding in one cup at a time so the rice doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Start to finish it will take about 30 minutes, and you’ll want to be constantly stirring.

4. After about 15 minutes of cooking the rice, gradually adding in more stock as you stir, add in about 1 cup of ramp puree. Since I’m making this a little later in the season, I’m using a batch that watch frozen. It’s a simple puree of ramp leaves and olive oil. If ramps are not available you could substitute this with a nice garlicky pesto.

5. Add in more broth and continue stirring. The risotto will now be a beautiful green color. Add in the grated Parmesan and continue stirring. Add more broth as necessary. The rice should never be completely covered with broth, but there should always be enough to make sure it’s not sticking to the pan.

6. Season with salt and pepper to taste and allow the risotto to come to room temperature.

Arancini Instructions

1. Take a scoop of the risotto in your hands and form a cup in the palm of your hand. Gently pack the rice down so it doesn’t feel loose.

2. In the middle of the rice, add a few chunks of caciocavallo cheese and the cooked mushrooms.

3. Take another scoop of rice with your free hand and gently pack it on top. Carefully form the ball together, pressuring it evenly all around, being mindful to patch any weak spots with more rice. It should be roughly the size of a baseball, and hold together well after shaping. Set them aside until you’ve shaped all of your balls.

4. In medium size bowl, whisk together about a cup of flour to a cup of water to make a paste. It should have the consistency as pancake batter. Put about 2 cups of breadcrumbs into another bowl.

5. One by one, evenly coat each rice ball in the flour paste. Use your hands to ensure the entire surface is coated. Transfer each ball into the bowl of bread crumbs and roll them around until they have an even coating. Try to avoid large clumps of flour and breadcrumbs. You’ll likely want to wash your hands a few times periodically. Set all of the rice balls into a large tray.

6. Bring a heavy duty pot of canola oil (or deep fryer) up to 350 F. Make sure it’s deep enough to fully submerge the balls. Fry each rice ball for about 4 -5 minutes each until golden brown, turning periodically so they get an ever color.

7. Transfer the balls to absorbent paper, paper towels, to soak up some of the excess oil.

8. Arancini’s are most commonly enjoyed room temperature, but they’re also quite nice when still a little hot. They hold their shape a bit better once they’d cooled down.

Wild Mushroom Instructions

Morels

I’m making these in late spring, so morels are already past peak. I had a good year with morels so I have a small stash of dried morels. I simply soaked them in warm water for 15 minutes, drained, and cooked them just as you would with fresh morels. If using this method, make sure to save the water after soaking, and add it into your stock.

Chicken of the Woods

Full disclosure, COTW is not one of my favorite edibles. They are beautiful to look at, and I’ve been trying to find a way to cook them where I’d be excited about it. I did however enjoy how these turned out, albeit they were more a subtle part of the dish. I braised only the most tender pieces in a chicken stock for about ten minutes. Then sliced the outer most edges super thin into ribbons and sauteed them in some olive oil until they get nice and crispy. Season with a little salt and pepper. The color and texture out of the pan is almost bacon-like.

Brief History of the Arancini

Arancini translates into “little oranges.” The arancini I grew up with were gigantic softball sized balls of rice and filling that could be a whole meal in themselves, although they never were. Their origin goes back to when Sicily was under Arab rule in the 10th century, and traders devised a way to transport meals consisting of rice and meat long distances on horseback. Today, they are one of the highlights of Palermo’s street food scene and not terribly difficult to make yourself. What you fill it with is up to your imagination but here we’ll do something classic.

INGREDIENTS

• Starchy short white rice or risotto

• Parmesan cheese grated

• Butter

• Saffron

• Plain bread crumbs

• 2 cups of flour

• Canola or corn oil

• Salt

• Pepper

• 1 can tomato paste (6oz)

• Frozen peas (1 lb)

• 2 lbs ground beef

• 1 Yellow onion

• Garlic (diced)

• Sharp provolone, cubed

RECIPE

Cook rice according to directions with the addition of one stick of butter and a few pinches of saffron. Stir constantly on a low flame. Cube the provolone. Once cooked, put rice in a large aluminum tray and sprinkle with grated cheese, and add more salt and pepper if needed. Mix well. While rice is cooling you can make the filling.

For the filling, saute onion and 2-3 cloves of garlic in olive oil. Add ground beef, salt, pepper to taste. Cook thoroughly and add can of tomato paste. Mix well and add frozen peas. The mixture should be somewhat dry. Drain off any excess liquid and put in bowl to cool off.

Set your deep fryer to 350 F. Slowly mix two cups of flour with warm water to make a paste the consistency of pancake batter. This is the glue for the breadcrumb coating. Put the breadcrumbs in a tray and set aside. Now you’ll begin forming your balls. Scoop some rice in your palm and shape it like a bowl. Add a large spoonful of the filling, and 4-5 pieces of cubed provolone. Carefully work another small scoop of rice on top of filling and shape into a ball.

To apply the glue it’s best to use your hands. Take a palm full of the glue and rub it around the riceball. Roll the rice ball in the breadcrumbs and continue to press firm to form into a nice smooth compact ball. Set the rice balls in a tray as the deep fryer heats up.

Once the fryer reaches temperature it’s time to fry. Rice balls should be almost completely submerged in the hot oil. Cook until golden brown, turning once or twice to get an even color.

Transfer the cooked rice ball to a sheet of brown paper to absorb oil and let dry before serving. Enjoy biting into the crunchy exterior and sinking your teeth into their creamy center. It doesn’t get much better.