New Family Member & a Familiar Recipe…

I just want to take this opportunity to welcome into the world my second nephew Caleb. In Italian, the literal translation of “to give birth,” is to give to the light. My dearest Caleb, dare alla luce, welcome to the light. And because I can’t mention one nephew without the other, to my little Noah who turned two last week, buon compleanno mio caro.

OK, on to the food! This week I made a dish that is near and dear to my heart. I have previously mentioned my childhood best friend Jeannette and the fact that she comes from a big Italian family including her Mama, my preschool teacher and later my high school Spanish teacher, who we always referred to as Senora. In true Italian Mama form, Senora cooked a lot. The house always smelled of tomatoes and garlic and was warm from a boiling pot of pasta or warm olive oil.

And the one dish that I will never forget is Senora’s Arancini. While all the little girls in the second grade lunchroom were munching on their Wonder bread Fluff n’nutters, Jeanneatte was crunching on perfectly round and golden brown rice balls. I remember peering into her Tupperware and seeing gooey rice and bright green peas and wondering what the hell her mother was feeding her?

My American taste buds were not so adventurous and I don’t think it was until we were in high school that I was brave enough to try Senora’s golden spheres. I remember the warmth and the stick-to-your-ribs-ness of them. It was comforting and filling and made with love.

So last Friday night, I attempted to bring this Italian memory of mine into the present. GDL’s Arancini di Riso sounded simple with very basic ingredients but I had to, of course, add peas to give it a more Senora edge.

You start with basic risotto, which I have now mastered thank you very much. And when cooled, combine it with breadcrumbs, Parmesean cheese and two eggs. You then get messy, which was surprisingly fun for a neat freak like me, by forming the mixture into little balls around a cube of mozzarella cheese. The ball gets coated with more breadcrumbs and placed into vegetable oil that’s been heated to 350 degrees. Word to the wise, try not to hover over the boiling oil when the balls first go in- they will pop and shoot burning oil at you once in a while. I have the ruined t-shirt but luckily no permanent scarring to prove it.

Anyways, the Arancini sit in the oil for just four minutes before cooling on paper towel. The outside is delightfully crispy and crunchy while the inside is ooey gooey with extra goo from the mozzarella. And when I brought in my leftovers in Tupperware today and sat in the cafeteria at work, I couldn’t help but wonder if any of the other women were munching on their turkey sandwiches on whole wheat and thinking, what the hell is she eating?