Arancini

One thing my husband takes seriously is food...especially when he's cooking it. To me, food is just something that keeps me from going hungry and gets rid of those hunger pangs. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I get a craving that I just have to satisfy, but for the most part, meals are something I have to partake in to survive. To my husband, a meal he gets to prepare could be likened to how an artist views a big, blank canvas. He doesn't care how much work or how much mess, as long as it tastes good.

 Alessandro is a very busy man, so the opportunity for his creative expression in the kitchen doesn't come around very often, but when it does...watch out! Today was one of those days. My husband's mom passed away several years before we got married, so I never did get the opportunity to meet her, but I hear she was amazing in many ways...especially when it came to her culinary skills! She would gather the entire family, sometimes 50 people, for food and fellowship. She and my father-in-law would cook Italian feasts. It has been said that she was happiest when she was cooking. Alessandro inherited some of those traits from her and has every intention of keeping her signature recipes alive and passed down.

Today, he made Arancini (his mom's recipe of course) and it took him about 5 hours to complete it! He took such pride in it that he wanted me to video tape some of it to post for his family to see, just so that they'd believe that he actually did it! After much preparation and many steps to the finished product, it turned out delicious!

Arancini are fried rice balls coated with breadcrumbs, said to have originated in Sicily in the 10th century. They are filled with a meat sauce and peas, along with some mozzarella cheese. My son, Luca, who is now 3 years old calls them "fry balls". Makes me laugh!

               (Before the frying: the oval ones have only cheese and the round ones have meat and peas)

 

I love the goofy side of my man's personality!