Dec 18

Dec 18 Arancini with pumpkin and spicy vegan 'nduja mayo

Still in need for a delicious, vegan Christmas appetizer? Here it is! This is the recipe for my well loved arancini risotto balls with a spicy ‘nduja mayo. I served them at the restaurant for the last weeks and they were so well received that so many of you asked to keep them on the menu forever. However for my own creativity and recipe freedom i’m not keeping them, cause to be honest they are quite laborious sometimes. But you are in luck cause you can now make them at home too! And before you say, oh no this recipe is too much work, stop, no, it isn’t! i just meant that in my kitchen on prep days things can be hectic and if i’m making other laborious recipes it just is too much work for me and my mom. But they are perfect for festivities like Christmas or New Year. You can make them ahead and store them in the fridge so all you have to do is fry them up and serve. And they will truly wow everyone!

vegan pumpkin arancini with a spicy vegan 'nduja mayo

Recipe

Quick tip make the risotto a day ahead so it can be rolled easily into balls

This makes enough for approx. 14-15 arancini balls

Ingredients

1 batch of pumpkin risotto, find the recipe here
6-8 tbs of flour and water
extra flour, as much as needed
breadcrumbs as much as needed
Sunflower oil for frying
fresh sage leaves

for the ‘nduja mayo

100 gr of sun dried tomatoes
1 small peeled garlic clove
60 gr of firm tofu
3-4 very spicy chillies
2 tbs of tomato puree
2 tbs of olive oil
200gr of vegan mayo

Instructions

Start by making the risotto one day ahead of when you are planning to roll the arancini balls.
Place the risotto in the fridge to cool down completely.
On the serving day make the mayo dip.
Mix every ’nduja ingredient except for the mayo in a blender until smooth and it has a thick concistency. Mix this paste with the mayo and set in the fridge.
Once the risotto has cooled down.
Mix the 6 tablespoons of flour with equal amounts of water into a pancake like batter.
Roll the risotto into balls, I scoop them with an icecream scooper to get them all roughly the same size.
Prepare 3 plates, one with just flour, one with the flour batter and one with the breadcrumbs.
Form the risotto into balls and drop them in the flour, then in the flour batter and lastly in the breadcrumbs.
Do this with all the risotto balls and store them in an airtight container or fry them straight away.
Heat up the frying oil to 170°C and fry them one or two at the time until golden and crispy.
Let them drain on some kitchen paper before serving them on a bed of the spicy ‘nduja mayo.
Optional but recommended; dip some big fresh sage leaves in some water then in flour and fry them for a few seconds until crispy. Decorate the arancini with them (see photo above) for some extra wow factor.
Buon appetito!