Arancini, or rice balls, are a common Sicilian street food enjoyed as a snack or antipasto. Seafood arancini, a delicious variation of traditional Sicilian arancini, are filled with shrimp and scallops in a creamy bechamel sauce, coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried until crisp!During recent trips to Sicily I had the pleasure of discovering arancini filled with a variety of ingredients other than the traditional ragu with peas that my mother has always made. In fact, one arancini stand located in the town of Erice claimed to make more than twenty five different fillings!
I can only recall a handful including traditional ragu with peas; eggplant; shrimp; squid ink; pistachio; spinach; and prosciutto and mozzarella. I have yet to taste all of them!
Of course my mother’s traditional ragu with peas filled arancini recipe are my absolute favorite and always will be. However, I was recently inspired by my Coquille St-Jacques recipe, a seafood dish made with shrimps and scallops smothered in a creamy bechamel sauce, topped with a ring of mashed potatoes and melted cheese. A must on my table on Christmas Eve!
I decided that this seafood mixture would make for an excellent arancini filling and I was so right! In fact, I was thinking that these scallop and shrimp arancini would be perfect for a traditional Italian Christmas Eve seafood only dinner.
The process for making arancini sounds daunting but I have broken it up into manageable steps beginning the day before with preparation of the rice and seafood mixture.
The following are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe. Please scroll to the end of this post for the detailed, printable recipe card.
Step by Step Instructions
Cook the rice:
In a large sauce pan bring vegetable broth (or chicken if you prefer) to a boil. Stir in Arborio rice, lower to a simmer and cook, covered, until the broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes. The rice will be tender but still have some bite to it.
Transfer it to a large shallow bowl or baking tray and spread it out to cool. Stir in Parmigiano cheese. Once cooled, place in the refrigerator.
Prepare the seafood:
If using frozen seafood, defrost it. Rinse the shrimp and scallops, drain and pat dry. You may opt to cut the shrimp in half.In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté a finely diced small onion or shallot. Add thinly sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until the water released by the mushrooms has evaporated.
Stir in the seafood and cook for 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until it has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to a large bowl.
For the bechamel sauce:
Melt butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat (1). Do not allow it to brown. Whisk in flour until it forms a thick paste (2). Slowly whisk in milk and stir (3). Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens (4). Add a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste.
Stir the bechamel into the seafood mixture along with freshly chopped parsley and let cool.
At this point you have three options:
- Refrigerate both the rice and seafood mixture and assemble the arancini the following day.
- Assemble the arancini and fry the following day.
- Assemble the arancini once your ingredients are cool enough to handle and enjoy right away!
To assemble seafood arancini:
Stir two lightly beaten eggs into the rice mixture. Set up your dredging station: pour unseasoned breadcrumbs in a bowl; beat two eggs in a second bowl.
In order to ensure even sized arancini, I use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to scoop my rice.
Roll rice into a ball and, holding it in 1 hand, make a deep indentation in the center with your fingers.
Place a heaping tablespoon full of seafood mixture in the center. Carefully wrap the rice around the seafood mixture. If needed, use a little extra rice to patch the opening. Roll into a ball.
Continue with the rest of the rice and seafood.
Once the arancini are shaped, dredge each ball first in the beaten eggs, allowing the excess to drip off. Then roll in the breadcrumbs.
Fry the arancini:
- Use a heavy bottomed pot (or deep fryer if you have) for frying.
- Pour in vegetable oil to a depth of 3-inches.
- The oil must be very hot for frying, but how do you know when it’s hot enough? Here’s a cool trick that my mother taught me and never fails! Place the handle of a wooden spoon in the hot oil. If the oil immediately begins to bubble vigorously around the handle, it is hot enough for frying.
- Carefully place the arancini in the oil without crowding them. I usually place 7 or 8 at a time but this will vary according to the size of your pot.
- When they are golden, about 3-4 minutes, remove without a slotted spoon allowing excess oil to drip. Place on a paper towel covered sheet pan or tray.
Now, enjoy!
Recipe Notes
On combining cheese with seafood:
There is quite a debate about whether seafood should be combined with cheese. My opinion on this touchy topic is if you like it, then it’s fine!
So you’ll notice that I added Parmigiano cheese to the rice mixture. Without it, in my opinion, the rice is lacking flavor. Therefore I suggest you add between 1/2 to 1 cup of Parmigiano cheese to your rice, according to your taste.
On assembling the arancini:
Cook your rice and seafood mixture a day ahead, refrigerate and assemble the following day before frying.
Or assemble the arancini a day ahead and fry the following day.
Use a measuring cup (1/2 cup) to measure rice for even sized arancini.
Make smaller appetizer sized arancini: use half the rice mixture and half the seafood filling.
A small cube of mozzarella may also be added to the center of the arancini along with the seafood.
Arancini can be made with leftover risotto.
Can arancini be frozen?
Cooked arancini can be frozen well wrapped in an airtight container for up to one month. Wrap in foil and place in a 350 degrees F to thaw. Once thawed, unwrap until warmed through and crisp on the outside.
If you try out this recipe, please let me know how much you enjoyed it by rating it and commenting below. Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!
Check out more Sicilian street food recipes:
- Panelle (Sicilian Chickpea Fritters)
- Arancini alla Norma
- Pitoni Messinesi (Sicilian fried calzone)
- Baked Mashed Potato Croquettes
Ingredients
For the rice
- 500 grams arborio rice
- 5 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
- 1/2-1 cup Parmigiano cheese
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
For the seafood mixture
- 1 small onion or shallot finely minced
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 cup mushrooms thinly sliced
- 250 grams shrimp small or medium sized, peeled and deveined
- 250 grams scallops small
- 1/4 cup white wine
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp. parsley freshly chopped
For the beshamel sauce
- 2 tbsp. butter
- 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk preferably whole milk
- salt and pepper to taste
To assemble
- 1 1/4 cups unseasoned Italian breadcrumbs
- 2 large eggs
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
Cook the rice
- In a large sauce pan bring vegetable broth (or chicken if you prefer) to a boil. Stir in arborio rice and cook, covered, until the broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes. The rice will be tender but still have some bite to it.Â
- Transfer it to a large shallow bowl or baking tray and spread it out to cool. Stir in Parmigiano cheese. Once cooled, refrigerate it.
Cook the seafood
- If using frozen seafood, defrost it. Rinse the shrimp and scallops, drain and pat dry. Cut the shrimp in half if they are large.
- In a large skillet sauté a finely diced small onion or shallot. Add thinly sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, until the water released by the mushrooms has evaporated.
- Stir in the seafood and cook for 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until it has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a large bowl.Â
Prepare the bescamel sauce
- Melt the butter in a small sauce pan on medium heat. Do not allow it to brown. Whisk in flour until it forms a thick paste.
- Slowly whisk in milk and stir. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir the sauce into the seafood mixture along with freshly chopped parsley and let cool.
Assemble the arancini
- Stir two lightly beaten eggs into the rice mixture. Set up your dredging station: pour unseasoned breadcrumbs in a bowl; beat two eggs in a second bowl.
- In order to ensure even sized arancini, I use a 1/2 cup measuring cup to scoop my rice. Roll rice into a ball and, holding it in 1 hand, make a deep indentation with your fingers.
- Place a heaping tablespoon full of seafood mixture in the center. Carefully wrap the rice around the seafood mixture. If needed, use a little extra rice to patch the opening. Roll into a ball.
- Continue with the remaining rice and seafood.
- Once the arancini are shaped, dredge each ball first in the beaten eggs, allowing the excess to drip off. Then roll in the breadcrumbs.
To fry
- Use a heavy bottomed pot (or deep fryer if you have) for frying. Pour in vegetable oil to a depth of 3-inches and heat on medium high heat.
- When the oil is hot carefully place the arancini in the pot without crowding them. I usually place 7 or 8 at a time but this will vary according to the size of your pot.
- When they are golden on all sides, about 3-4 minutes, remove without a slotted spoon allowing excess oil to drip. Place on a paper towel covered sheet pan or tray.
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