Squash & Orange Arancini
Crispy on the outside, soft and flavourful on the inside with a gooey and cheesy heart. These squash and orange arancini are a crowd-pleaser and will surprise you with their citrusy notes. This recipe makes around 28 small arancini.
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Preparation time
20 min
Cook time
40 min
Total time
60
Cuisine
Italian
Meal
- soups-starters
- lunches
- vegetable-side-dishes
Servings
6-8
Ingredients
Arancini
- 650g/3¼ cups arborio or carnaroli rice
- 300g/10.5 oz cooked squash purée (use around 1 small butternut squash – unsalted)
- 2L/8½ cups (approx.) vegan stock (unsalted)
- 1 tbsp vegan white wine (optional)
- 13g (2 tsp approx.) salt + more to taste
- 2 garlic cloves, puréed
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp orange juice
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Zest of ½ an orange
- Fresh thyme sprigs (optional)
- 100g/1¼ cups vegan cheese, grated
- Vegetable oil for frying
Coating
- 70g/½ cup plain flour (use gluten-free if needed)
- 140ml/½ cup water
- 200g/1¾ cups breadcrumbs (use gluten-free if needed)
Note: if you have time, I would recommend making the risotto a day ahead so it will cool down completely and arancini will be easier to shape
Instructions
- Heat a large pan and add the rice. Dry-fry for a couple of minutes. This step, called ‘tostatura’ in Italian and will prevent the rice from overcooking and allow it to keep the “al dente” texture.
- Add the white wine, stir and let it evaporate. At this stage, add the puréed garlic cloves, the salt and a couple of ladles of broth. Stir consistently and once the water is absorbed, add more broth just as if you were to cook risotto.
- When the rice is almost cooked, pour the squash purée and season with the orange juice, black pepper, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, thyme and more salt to taste if needed.
- Give the rice a final stir by adding the vegan butter and cook until it reaches a thick texture. Spread on a baking tray and set aside to cool for at least 2 hours.
- Whilst the rice is cooling you can prepare the batter by mixing water and flour.
- Once ready to make arancini, wet your hands and get a handful of the rice. Flatten it slightly, fill it with vegan cheese then seal it and gently roll it to give it a round ball shape.
- After all the arancini are done, dip them in the batter then coat them with breadcrumbs. Lay them on a tray and rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Alternatively, at this stage you can choose to freeze them.
- Using a deep saucepan, fill to just under half full with the vegetable oil and heat. When it reaches about 180°C, fry the arancini until they look golden. Dry on kitchen paper then enjoy them whilst still warm and crispy!
Keywords
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