LITTLE ORANGES

(Arancine)

Makes twelve 7.5 cm/3 inch arancine

675 g/1½ lb Italian rice (vialone or originario)

2 eggs, beaten

50 g/2 oz grated caciocavallo or parmesan cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 small onion, minced

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

225 g/8 oz minced veal or beef

1 teaspoon tomato extract or 1 tablespoon tomato purée

125 ml/4 fl oz red wine

1 sage leaf

⅛ teaspoon grated nutmeg

225 ml/8 fl oz plain tomato sauce

175 g/6 oz blanched tiny peas, fresh or frozen

125 g/4 oz flour

4 eggs, beaten

225 g/8 oz dried breadcrumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

Cook the rice in abundant boiling water, lightly salted, as you would cook pasta. When it is tender (about 15 to 20 minutes), drain it well, turn it out on a marble surface or a wide platter, and add the 2 beaten eggs, the cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and allow to cool.

Sauté the onion and celery in the olive oil until they begin to colour. Add the minced meat and brown it. Stir in the tomato extract and the wine, and simmer briefly. Add the sage leaf, nutmeg, and tomato sauce. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the peas and simmer for 5 minutes longer, until the peas are cooked. Allow to cool.

Place the flour, the 4 beaten eggs, and the breadcrumbs on three separate plates.

When the rice and filling have cooled, place a couple of tablespoons of rice in the palm of your left hand (assuming you are right-handed), make a dent in the middle, fill the hollow with a generous teaspoonful of the meat filling, and with your right hand cover the filling with more rice, sealing the edges and moulding it into a ball. No filling should show. Arancine can be anywhere from 4-10 cm/1½-4 inches in diameter, but I find that 6-7.5 cm/2½-3 inches is the most manageable size.

Bind the arancina by rolling it first in flour, then in the beaten eggs, then in the breadcrumbs, making sure that the ball is completely covered at each layer. Set the bound arancina to dry on a rack while you make the others. They are not particularly difficult to make once you get the knack, but to start frying before all the arancine have been shaped and bound really is to invite disaster.

Deep-fry the arancine a few at a time in abundant and very hot oil (about 190C/375F) until they are rich golden brown (it is crucial that there be more than enough oil to cover them completely; otherwise they will burst). Lift out and drain on paper towels. Set in a warm oven to dry for 10 minutes before serving.

Rice is also the protagonist of tummàla, an elaborate casserole from eastern Sicily, which is said to derive its name from that of Mohammed Ibn Thummah, an emir of Catania during the Saracen occupation.