CIME DI RAPA ARANCINI WITH SMOKED SCAMORZA, GARLIC AND CHILLI

Ricetta di Danilo Cortellini

90'

Medium

CIME DI RAPA ARANCINI WITH SMOKED SCAMORZA, GARLIC AND CHILLI

Ingredienti

300 g Riso Gallo Traditional Risotto
400 g fresh Cime di Rapa (washed and drained)
1 litre vegetable stock
1 egg
30 g chopped onion
150 gr diced smoked scamorza cheese
40 gr grated Grana Padano
20 g unsalted butter
1 lt vegetable oil for frying
Flour to dust
2 eggs for the egg wash
300 g breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper to taste

For the garlic and chilli oil:

1 head of garlic
2 red chillies
100 ml of extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

For the cheese sauce:

250 ml double cream
150 gr grated Grana Padano cheese

Preparazione

Trim the Cime di Rapa by separating the leaves and tender little tops from the chunky stalks. Cook all in salted boiling water but in separate rounds, the leaves and tops together and the stalks by themselves as they will take much longer to soften. When ready, drain and set aside. In a pot, fry the blanched leaves and tops with a drizzle of oil and a pinch of salt for about 2 minutes. Check the seasoning and set aside. Keep a few leaves to use as garnish and chop the rest. In a second pot, fry the chopped onion with a drizzle of oil and a little knob of butter, add a pinch of salt and cook until golden. Now add the Cime di Rapa stalks and cover with water. Cook for about 5 minutes until everything has softened. Blitz into a sauce and pass through a sieve to eliminate the woody fibre. For the garlic oil, simply slice the garlic thinly and chop the chillies into stripes. Fry gently in olive oil for 3 to 4 minutes until golden and let it cool into the oil. Any leftover oil can be kept and used for other recipes. For the cheese sauce, simply heat the cream gently and once hot add the grated cheese and remove from the stove while mixing. The remaining heat will melt the cheese gently. Start by cooking the rice base as if it was a risotto. In a large casserole, start to roast the rice on a low heat with a pinch of salt, without adding oil or fat. Keep stirring the rice for a couple of minutes, so the rice does not catch on the bottom of the pan or burn, then pour in the simmering stock a ladle at a time, little by little. Set the timer to 15 minutes, stir the rice occasionally, and keep cooking. When the cooking time of the rice is almost finished, add the Cime di Rapa sauce to it and stir well. Once the cooking time of the risotto is up, if you’re happy with the texture remove it from the heat, add the butter, the grated Grana Padano cheese and the egg and the chopped Cime di Rapa and stir well. Season to taste and let the rice cool down in a large tray. Once cold, create rice balls with your hands of about 40/50 gr each and remember to put abundant diced smoked scamorza in the middle of each of them for the extra ooze effect. You can shape them as you please. Once all are ready let them set for 30 minutes in the fridge and then roll them gently into the flour. Following the flour, each Arancino should be dipped into the seasoned egg wash and ultimately coated evenly with breadcrumbs. Now deep fry the rice balls in vegetable oil at 160 degrees for about 5/6 minutes, until well golden. If the cheese starts to break through the arancini while cooking, you can drain them straight away from the oil and finish to cook them in the over at 200 degrees until well golden. Season with a touch of salt, and serve straight away. In small bowl pour 2 tbsp of cheese sauce and a spoonful of the retained Cime di Rapa. Place the arancini on the greens and top with spicy garlic oil and extra grated cheese before you enjoy it. Chef’s tip: I’ve used Traditional risotto rice by Riso Gallo, but Arborio or Carnaroli works too. Also, Cime di Rapa can easily be swapped for curly kale or cavolo nero. If these arancini are made smaller you can ditch the sauce and serve them as they are, as delicious bite sized canapes. For extra crispiness, swap the common breadcrumbs for Japanese Panko.