I'm currently making a menu for a whole Vegan Italian style wedding catering in November, so I decided to organize a vegan degustation for my client so that she could have a clear idea of what I was going to cook for her guests.
These arancini were definitely one of her favorite recipes. Arancini are one of those things that sound comforting, delicious, meaty, time consuming and fried. Well, my bet today is to show that arancini can be all the opposite: cruelty free, vegan, oven baked, and absolutely to die for.
I cannot promise to have them done in half an hour though..they're pretty standard Italian 'slow food', so I recommend to prepare them with time, dedication and make some extra ones as they freeze amazingly.
This is a quite articulated recipe that needs to be explained in a few steps.
There are no animal ingredients involved, neither gluten, soy, nuts or eggs, so it suits any eater.
The filling is made with Quorn, a natural frozen food that is meat free and soy free.
The main ingredient in Quorn is mycoprotien (myco is Greek for fungi). The mycoprotein comes from fusarium venentaum, which was discovered in England, in the late 1960’s.
It's same deal than tofu: it tastes really nice if you play around with it a little, like adding it to sauces, stir fry or using it instead of mince meat to make vegetarian meat balls, bolognese... Worth to try once.
Here we come to some real action:
Ingredients for 6 arancini
Arancini (outside)
200 gr quinoa
4 slices gluten free bread soaked in soy milk for 20 min
rind of 1 lemon
Salt
Pepper
Vegan bolognese
300 gr quorn, chopped
6 spoons peas
1/2 onion
1 can of Organic chopped tomato
1 medium carrot cubed
3 bay leaves
1 stick celery chopped
basil
salt
Arancini crumb
Gluten free crumbs
Bowl (as a utensil, not ingredient..)
Step 1.
Books are very often judged by their cover, so let's get serious about the arancini structure:
Cook the quinoa in 3 cups cold water for 13 minutes, than take away from the heat but leave it in the pot for 20 minutes so that it can absorb the remaining water. If it looks too dry add some hot water whilst cooking, but not too much or it will be too watery and not set for the following step.
Once it has cooled down add salt, pepper, lemon rind and soaked bread, which needs to be lightly squeezed and crumbled.
Mix it through until it gets to a nice firm texture.
Rest in the fridge ideally overnight, but 1 or 2 hours will be also acceptable.
Step 2.
Let's make the sauce:
Get the quorn out of the freezer, let it soften for half an hour than chop it. Cut the onion, carrots and celery. In a saucepan add 3 spoons of olive oil than lightly fry the vegetables mixture. When it looks browned but not burnt, add the chopped quorn, and allow it to cook for extra 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the bay leaves than cover with the tomatoes. Add salt and pepper to season and also a teaspoon of panela sugar to reduce the acidity of the sauce. This is a trick my grandmother had passed me and it really works. The sauce gets also a nice thickness for some strange reason and taste amazingly good.
Cook for 30 minutes on a low heat.
Once the sauce is cooked add chopped basil and set aside.
Step 3.
Getting the job done:
Now, you must probably already gone to another recipe or ditched my blog, but this is when the real fun starts. If you got to this point, you have the determination to master the best arancini in town.
So, in order:
a. Get the quinoa mixture from the fridge
b. Wet your hands
c. Scoop two full spoons of mixture in one hand shaping it like a ball; press your thumb in the centre of the ball to make an indent.
d. Keeping your hand concave, place a spoon of bolognese in the indent, than mould the quinoa mixture to enclose. If you have rested the quinoa mixture in the fridge, it will be firm enough to make this step successful.
e. Get a deep bowl and add 200 gr gluten free crumb mixture
f. Roll the arancini in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing to coat and shaking off any excess. Place them on a flat tray covered with baking paper.
Cooking tips:
Pre heat the oven at 180°. Once all the arancini are ready, place them over the tray and add few spoons of olive oil.
Bake for 30 minutes, turning them around to guarantee equal crunchiness.
Serve arancini hot or cold, they are delicious both ways and also very handy as picnic food or party recipe.
Gnam!!
