Classic Sicilian Arancini Recipe

Arancini, rice balls stuffed with sauce and peas, are one of the best-loved sicilian snacks and street foods. They have become increasingly popular throughout italy and worldwide. The filling in this recipe is one of the most classica meat rag, green peas, and melty mozzarella. The rice is scented with saffron and the rice balls are rolled in breadcrumbs before frying them into croquettes. Usually, they're made with caciocavallo cheese, but since that can be difficult to find outside of southern italy, parmigiano-reggiano is used in this recipe. There is considerable debate among sicilians as to whether this dish should properly be called arancini (masculine) or arancine (feminine). You may have seen this dish spelled both ways. In western sicily, it's argued that these rice balls are usually called arancine because that word means "Little oranges;" The balls are round and like arancia, the word for orange in italian. In eastern sicily, arancino is the term more commonly used and it's usually made in more pear-shaped form because, it's believed, the term comes from the name of the fruit in sicilian dialect: arnciu. At this point, arancino has become the more widely diffused name, particularly in english-speaking countries. Whether you call them aracini or arancine, these delectable rice balls can be eaten as an antipasto or snack, or even as a meal when coupled with a salad or soup. They're commonly served with marinara for dipping.