Arancini

Arancini are Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep fried. They are a staple of Sicilian cuisine. The most common arancini fillings are: al ragù or al sugo, filled with ragù (meat or mince, slow-cooked at low temperature with tomato sauce and spices), mozzarella or caciocavallo cheese, and often peas, and al burro or ô burru, filled with ham and mozzarella or besciamella. A number of regional variants exist which differ in their fillings and shape. Arancini al ragù produced in eastern Sicily have a conical shape inspired by the volcano Etna. Etymology Arancini derives from the Sicilian plural diminutive of ('orange'), from their shape and colour which, after cooking, is reminiscent of an orange. In Sicilian, arancini is grammatically plural. The corresponding singular is either the masculine arancinu or the feminine arancina. The eastern side of Sicily tends to use the masculine form, while the western side tends to use the feminine form.