Gluten Free Arancini Recipe: A Sicilian Street Food (with a dairy free option)

There was something everyone else ate while I was in Italy that I really wanted to try, but there was simply no way to try it.

Arancini. They're little deep-fried rice balls with filling inside, and they are served either at street carts or in "bars," something that reminded me of an old-fashioned American soda fountain. They're a Sicilian specialty, and when I came home and made them for the boy and C, C told us a wonderful traveling story about arancini.


This was my traveling companion, the night we (they) ate arancini. Look at all that cheese!

She and a friend were traveling through Europe, but they didn't have a lot of money. They were headed to another country, out of Italy, and so they bought a whole bag full of arancini and stuffed them in their luggage. They managed to navigate a few more days in their new destination because of their bag full of delicious, filling, and simple arancini. Life savers, if you ask me.

So, I had to make it too. I had to find out what they tasted like. I managed to rustle up a recipe online, posted by a French-speaking Swiss man who blogs about his food adventures. The recipe was easy to follow, and the perfect time for me to crack open the 10 kilo bag of risotto rice I had picked up at a stop in Tuscany. The night before, as I was preparing the risotto and ragù according to the recipe, I had to keep spooning the finished risotto into my mouth. It was so tender and creamy, I could hardly put it down! This was perfect for it, because risotto rice is more starchy than other varieties, and lends itself well to constructing shapes with it. 

Arancini al Riso

adapted from the Arancini recipe on FXCuisine.com

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Risotto.

1 onion, finely minced

olive oil

2 cups risotto rice (authentic Italian risotto rice is best)

4 cups chicken broth or stock

Ragù.
1/2 cup pancetta, or bacon if you can't find pancetta
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery stick
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound beef chuck
1 cup tomato paste or fresh tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock or broth

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

salt, pepper

When making the arancini:

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup tapioca starch

1 cup breadcrumbs (we used Gillian's gluten free country breadcrumbs)

3 eggs, beaten

fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into small cubes

The preparation on the arancini is best started the night before, when you'll prepare the risotto rice and the ragù.

For the risotto:
Heat a pan with tall sides, and add olive oil. Add the chopped onion, and simmer for few minutes as the onion becomes more translucent. Add the uncooked rice grains, and toast for about 2 minutes with the oil and onion. Add in the chicken broth, and let it simmer on the stove. The rice will release its starch, thickening the mixture as it boils. Stir occasionally, so that it doesn't burn on the bottom. Near the end, remove and cool a little rice to taste. The rice should just melt in your mouth - there should not be any crunchiness to it. It will likely take between 20 and 35 minutes to cook. Remove from heat and cool in the refrigerator overnight.

Fresh, authentic risotto.

For the ragù:

Simmer the pancetta (or bacon) with the onion and garlic. Add in the ground chuck in small pieces, and brown the meat on a low heat. It's important to brown the meat slowly, so that the fats it releases will be incorporated back into the other ingredients. Do not drain the meat, but it should not be particularly greasy anyway. Once all the chuck has been cooked this way, add the carrot and celery and cook for 5 more minutes. Add the chicken stock and simmer for 5 minutes. Then, add the tomato paste, thyme, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and store in the fridge until the next day.

Authentic Sicilian ragù. Simple and pedestrian.

To make arancini:

Set out all the ingredients on the counter, including the cold risotto, cold ragù, the gluten free flours mixed together in a bowl, beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, and a plate of cheese cubes.

Heat up 2 quarts of oil in a heavy pan on the stove to 325 degrees. I prefer canola oil, because it has a high smoke point. Other oils will smoke and stink up your house!

For the first one, put a small amount of rice in your hand, about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons, and then use your fingers to create a tiny well in the middle. Scoop a small bit of ragù into the well, about 2 teaspoons, and add in a few cheese cubes (I added 2 cheese cubes per arancini). Since the ragù is cold, it shouldn't be losing liquid into your hand. Fold your arancini hand together, so your fingers touch, and it will form the risotto rice into a ball, enclosing the meat and cheese. The goal is to only see rice around the outside - no meat. You can patch spots with rice if you need to. If you are a beginner, it will likely contain more rice than is optimal, but that's ok. As you get better, there will be less and less rice, and more filling inside! Use both hands to press the arancini into a solid ball. Once you can hold it with only two fingers without it falling apart, roll it in the gluten free flour mix, then the beaten egg, then the breadcrumb mixture.  Drop it into the oil, and cook for 5-8 minutes until brown on the outside.

Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and rest on a paper towel. The arancini will be hot, so you must be careful not to burn your mouth. Serve immediately with cold Fanta.

Dairy free option: When adding ragù to each arancini, simply leave out the cheese cubes. Roll together and prepare according to the directions. They are just as good without cheese!



 

 

My gluten free, dairy free arancini. Hot and fresh at home.

 Oh, and what did I have for dinner the night everyone else ate arancini? I'm glad you asked. Italian sorbet and gelato!

Kadu Bouranee (Afghan pumpkin) Recipe

My good friend - C. B. - is always there when I need her. She will play Guitar Hero with me, go shopping with me, or make dinner with me. We pretty much hit the town running, and have a great time doing it. The other night, she prepared this delicious Afghan pumpkin dish for us. With those little sugar pumpkins, or pie pumpkins, that are available right now.

Sugar pumpkins are small and sweet, with dark orange-colored flesh. They're perfect for pies, soups, muffins and breads. A medium-sized (4-pound) sugar pumpkin should yield around 1½ cups of mashed pumpkin. Field pumpkins, which are bred for perfect jack-o'-lanterns, tend to be too large and stringy for baking.

I suspect the true Afghan version is made with lamb, rather than the ground beef sauce, or it could just be served with rice. The mixing and matching of the sweet pumpkin with the fresh yogurt and the spicy, complex meat sauce help this stand up by itself. It's filling enough that you could serve it as its own meal, or include a salad, some fruit, or an easy rice pilaf to help it feed more folks.

Last Year: Ranch Pork Chops
Two Years Ago: Gluten Free Chicken Tenders!


The photo is a little dark - I was really hungry :)

 Kadu Bouranee, or Afghan Pumpkin Recipe
made by my awesome friend C.B.
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One 2 to 2.5 pound sugar pumpkin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup plain yogurt
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 inch freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon coriander
1 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the pumpkin into quarters. Remove the insides, then peel the skin with a vegetable peeler, and cut down into about 2-inch chunks.
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet. Brown the pumpkin pieces, turning frequently, until golden brown (about 5 minutes.)
Transfer pumpkin to a roasting pan. Mix sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over pumpkin. Cover  and bake for 30 minutes, or until tender.

While the pumpkin is baking, make the yogurt sauce and the meat sauce.

Yogurt sauce. Mix together yogurt with one clove of crushed garlic in a bowl; season to taste with salt & pepper.

Meat sauce. In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and cook the onions until lightly browned. Add ground beef, the second clove of crushed garlic, and salt & pepper. Mix well and cook until beef is browned. Add tomato sauce and water, mix thoroughly and bring to a simmer, lower heat, and cook about 20 minutes until it cooks down to a thick sauce.

Serve it up. Spoon cooked pumpkin onto plate, then add yogurt sauce, and top with meat sauce. Serves 4.

Gluten Free Pear Polenta Muffins

Hey mom! Did you notice that you can easily print my recipes now?
Sorry everyone, I just had to get that out there.

I visited my mom a few months back, and she wanted to make a batch of fudgey brownies with me. She uses an older Mac desktop, and we had a hard time making it easy to print the recipe from the blog. So, for my mom's sake and yours, you'll now find a link to the printable recipe, just below the recipe title. Hopefully this will make your baking time shorter and easier.

These pear polenta muffins were also put together with some delicious pears she had left over from a big box she bought at a roadside fruit stand. They were juicy and drippy, with clear liquid dripping down to my elbows with each bite. Pears always end up a little bruisy in my fruit bowl, because I jostle things around a little too much. These muffins were the perfect breakfast to grab on the way to work, and you can still taste the freshness of the pears, even after they are all baked up with corny goodness!

Gluten Free Pear Polenta Muffins
inspired by Karina's Apple Pear Multigrain Muffins
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Makes 12 muffins.

2 cups pears, diced small
1/2 cup gluten free cornmeal
1/4 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup organic millet flour
1/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of ground cloves
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup steamed and mashed acorn squash (I keep this in my freezer)
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/3 cup warm water or hemp milk

Wash and dice the pears. You don't even have to peel them, but that's really your preference. If you don't like peels, ditch them in the compost and go peel-free. Leave the pears on the cutting board for a minute, while preparing the other ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine the flours, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, baking powder, sugars, and spices. Whisk until they are well combined.

Add in the eggs, oil, squash, vinegar, vanilla and liquid of your choice. Stir together the whole batter, until it comes together like a thick cake batter. Once the batter is well-combined, carefully fold in the pear pieces, making sure to distribute them well. Drop 1/4 cup amounts of batter into lined muffins cups, and prepare the oven.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Make sure you eat these (or freeze them) within a few days, because the pear continues to ripen in the muffins.

Gluten Free Expo at the Southtowne Center (Sandy, Utah)

As I mentioned on the Gluten Free in SLC Facebook page, I headed out to the Gluten Free Expo on Saturday. I have to admit I was much too busy eating little brownies on toothpicks and filling my shopping bag with free samples to take many pictures, but there were a few great things there to point out.

Look at all that! I came home and dumped it out on the counter, and sorted through all the great coupons for foods too! The day started with a gluten free pancake breakfast, made by Smith's grocery stores with the new gluten free Bisquick mix. I hadn't tried it yet, and I think it was pretty fair. (I'm going to have to say that I've had pancakes that were both more healthy and more tender). But, they had really beautiful fresh berries to put on your pancakes, as well as calorie-free syrup.

There were probably about 80 booths set up in the expo center that we visited. Many had samples, coupons, and helpful information about eating and living gluten free. Really, the two that caught my attention most I want to mention:

Tree Street Grains Gluten Free Pancake Mix, Bread Mix, and others

products sold online or at Alpine Food Storage (9-Grain Gluten Free Pancake Mix)

These whole grain gluten free breads, cookies, and pancakes were so delicious. I had been standing in line talking to my friend about my reasons for making my own baked goods (because others make theirs out of white rice flour and starches!) and how important it was for the boy and I to eat whole grain gluten free foods for our whole health. She agreed, since she has been struggling with her diagnosis and getting enough whole grains (and feeling full after eating, too!) Well, the samples from Tree Street Grains were completely delicious! That whole grain taste was right there, and I'm planning a trip down to Alpine Food Storage soon!

Sandwich Petals

whole grain, gluten free tortillas that are the perfect size for lunch!

These are shelf-stable, whole grain, gluten free tortillas and flat bread. We met and talked with the owner, who mentioned his many months of work developing the perfect recipe. I'm so glad that there are folks out there who want to develop whole grain gluten free ways to eat that are delicious and convenient. Kudos to him, and I'm excited to have my box of Sandwich Petals on its way!

Gluten Free Peach Upside-Downer Recipe

I know I talked up my peach from Sicily. It was delicious. But I've also had some delicious Utah peaches. My mom picked up a half box of local peaches from Harward Farms (located to the south in Springville, Utah), and sent me home with some the other day. I set them out in a row on my counter, and they'd been taunting me since. I wanted to eat them fresh, because the peach texture is lost somewhat in either baking or canning. I proposed to the boy that I make some peach jam. He reminded me that he's "not much of a peach guy."

Of course not. Instead, I opened up my recent purchase from Dorie Greenspan, the one that people follow in a cultish kind of way, called Baking from my Home to Yours. The pictures are large and delicious, even though there's not one for every single recipe (like I wish there was.) I wonder where Dorie's from, because she has what seems like a different regional take on desserts that I feel like I do. Who knows - maybe she eats fish for every meal! Looks like she lives in Connecticut, works in New York, and has a strong French influence in her cooking.

Well, I decided on the peach version of Dorie's upside-downer. I've made a pineapple one before, but that's kind of a 1970s housewife classic, rather than a French/Dorie classic. I've also made this one dairy free, which can be a challenge. It was my first foray into coconut oil, and I think I like it. It's still got some richness to it, that you often miss when you leave out the butter. It's not greasy, especially since the topping (oil and sugar) is boiled together before adding the fruit. It's a really simple taste, and it almost holds the same delicate fresh peach taste that just eating a juicy peach does. It doesn't dull the taste down like canning. I was glad to discover that. It's amazing too, because I decreased the sugar from Dorie's. You tasted the sweet of the peaches, rather than too much sweet in the cake. Healthier for the win!

One more science bit about this - when it's ready to come out of the oven, the cake will have risen about 6 inches above the cake pan. Since I was baking in my little easy bake, I thought it would be stuck on the roof of the oven. Fortunately, I was able to get the cake out in one piece, and it's really important to then let it rest for 30 minutes so the syrup and cake can meld together. You know, get all happy. It's a great combination.

Gluten Free Peach Upside-Downer Recipe
adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from My Home to Yours
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1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/3 cup millet flour
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup sugar, divided in half
3 large, perfectly ripe peaches, peeled and sliced thin
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup non-dairy milk (I used hemp)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. The cake will be baked in an 8 inch round cake pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flours, baking powder, cinnamon, xanthan gum and salt.
In a small saucepan, combine 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (1/4 cup) and 1/3 cup sugar. Cook, while stirring, until the the mixture boils. Pour it over the bottom of the cake pan, and swirl the pan until it's even. Slice the peaches and arrange on the bottom of the pan in the coconut oil mixture.

In a stand mixer, whip together the remaining coconut oil (1/2 cup) and sugar (1/3 cup) for several minutes. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, beating until the mixture is pale and creamy. Pour in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture. Then add the milk, and the remaining flour mixture. Spoon the batter over the peaches and spread to the edges.

Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes. The top of the cake will be golden brown, the peach syrup will be bubbling around the edges, and the cake itself will have raised several inches out of the pan! This is normal, and how it should be. Remove the cake from the oven, and let it sit for 30 minutes, so that the syrup can absorb into the cake.

Place the serving plate on top of the cake pan, and then flip it onto the serving plate. It should come out cleanly, because of the syrup and peaches. The cake will have sunk back down into the pan as it cooled. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and cinnamon, and serve in wedges.

Check out some other health(ier) options at this week's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday!