4 cups cooked risotto rice, 1 roasted red pepper, chopped, 1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives, 1 tbsp. “Italian Herbs” mix, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 tbsp. chopped onion, 3 large eggs, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 2 tbsp. softened cream cheese, 1 cup each, Italian and panko breadcrumbs, salt and white pepper to taste.
Recipe: Mix all the ingredients, except the eggs, breadcrumbs and flour, in a mixing bowl and season to taste. Use the mixture to make balls the size of a small lime. Beat the eggs lightly in another bowl. Pour the flour and the breadcrumbs in two separate mixing bowls. Bread all arancini balls by dipping them in the following order: flour-egg-breadcrumbs. Deep-fry the arancini until golden and crispy on the outside. I served the Arancini di Riso with roasted red pepper and garlic mayo for dipping. Enjoy.
The arancini are a great choice for a party appetizer and can be passed around on trays as finger-food.
1 pound pizza dough (recipe below), 1 cup pizza sauce (recipe below), 1 cup grated mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated provolone cheese, 1 pinch dry basil, 1 pinch dry oregano, 2 oz. crumbled blue cheese, 1 oz. grated Parmigiano cheese, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon garlic flavored oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe: Sprinkle some flour and semolina mix on your kitchen counter and stretch the pizza dough to approximately 16 inches in diameter for XL pizza. Grease a pizza pan with the olive oil and place the pizza over it. Brush the pizza with the garlic flavored oil and apply the pizza sauce. Sprinkle the mozzarella and provolone on top and season with the dry herbs, salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a preheated oven at 450 F until the edges and bottom of the pizza are golden, and the cheese is bubbly. If you notice that the top of the pizza is cooking faster than the bottom, remove the pizza pan and cook the pizza directly on the oven rack. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese on top 5 minutes before the three cheese pizza is ready, and the Parmigiano cheese right after it comes out of the oven. Cooking tip: Drizzle 1 teaspoon of pesto sauce over the pizza before cutting, if desired. If you don’t have a pizza oven, then it might be better to first half-cook the crust and then apply the toppings anf finish cooking the pizza, otherwise the bottom might still be quite under-done until the top is cooked. Slow proofing: If you would like to proof your pizza dough slowly, such as when you prepare it days in advance to using it, you can make your pizza dough with cold water and keep it in the fridge up to 5 days.
Pizza dough
Pizza Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:
4 cups all-purpose white flour, 1 portion instant active dry yeast, 2 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil.
Recipe: Pour flour, salt, sugar, yeast and olive oil in a mixing bowl or food processor and knead until you have smooth dough. Cover the pizza dough with plastic wrap in a bowl and leave it in a warm place to proof until it doubles in size. Use as much dough as you need. If there is leftover pizza dough, put it in a zip bag and store it in the refridgerator for up to 4 days. Fresh pizza dough can be frozen before proofing. Cut the dough to individual portions, wrap it in plastic wrap and store it in the freezer until needed. Thaw the frozen pizza dough at room temperature. Once it is thawed, it will start proofing again. Freezing the pizza dough will not affect its quality once thawed.
Pizza Sauce Recipe:
Pizza sauce
Ingredients:
1 can (500) gr. crushed tomato passata, 1 can (4 oz.) tomato paste, 2 garlic cloves, chopped, 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil, 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 small onion, chopped, 1 tablespoon EV olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, salt and pepper to taste.
Recipe: Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes and add the rest of the ingredients except the basil. Simmer the pizza sauce for about 15-20 minutes. Cover the saucepan with a lid and stir often. Add the chopped basil 5 minutes before the sauce is ready. This pizza sauce recipe yields enough pizza sauce for about 4 medium size pizzas. Cooking tip: With the same ingredients you can prepare a pizza sauce without cooking. Simply blend briskly all the ingredients with a stick blender and let the sauce sit for half hour before using, in order to mix flavors. For the uncooked pizza sauce you can substitute the chopped onion with onion powder. If you chose to make the cooked pizza sauce, let it cool down a little bit before using it so your pizza cooks more evenly.
