Recipe: Frances Atkins’ Turkey Arancini

Feeding the Family

Recipes

Published on Thursday, 20 March 2014 19:10

Last Updated on 25 March 2014

Monica Costa

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Enjoy this amazing Mediterranean recipe for Frances Atkins’ Turkey Arancini. In Italy Arancini are a bit different but this is a great variety of the dish.

Serves 4

Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

Arancini mix

• 400g cooked risotto, either leftover or shop-bought

• 200g leftover turkey meat, finely chopped

• 1 tsp thyme leaves, chopped

• 1 tsp dried sage

• 80g mozzarella cheese, grated

• 1 pinch pepper

Coating

• 100g plain flour

• 2 eggs, beaten

• 120g fine white breadcrumbs

• 500ml vegetable oil

Yoghurt and parsnip

• 1 parsnip, peeled and sliced

• 300ml skimmed milk

• 200ml low fat natural yoghurt

• 1 pinch salt

To serve

• 150g herby green salad

You will need: a food processor or blender

Method

1. To make the turkey arancini, start by breaking up the leftover risotto in a large bowl using a spatula

2. Mix in the thyme, turkey, sage, grated mozzarella and pepper, making sure all of the ingredients are well incorporated

3. Prepare a large bowl of water. Wet your hands and shape the mixture into 12 balls. The kids can get involved in this step too to lighten the workload

4. Arrange the balls on a tray and lightly cover with cling film. Leave in the fridge for up to an hour to firm up and set

5. To make the parsnip and yoghurt dip, add the skimmed milk to a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat and bring to a simmer with the parsnips. Cook gently for 15-20 minutes until the parsnip softens

6. Pour the contents of the pan through a sieve into a bowl, making sure you save the milk. Place the cooked parsnip and a few drops of the reserved milk in a food processer and blitz until a thick purée forms

7. Tip the yoghurt into a bowl and add the parsnip purée and a pinch of salt. Mix well and set aside until ready to serve

8. Preheat a deep-fat fryer to 175°C, or half-fill a large deep pan with the oil and use a sugar thermometer to test the temperature. If you don’t have a sugar thermometer, add a cube of white bread to the hot oil. If it is golden-brown after 40 seconds, it is the correct temperature. If the bread becomes burnt after 40 seconds, the oil is too hot. If pale and soggy, the oil needs to be heated further

9. Add the plain flour to one bowl, the eggs to a second bowl and the fine white breadcrumbs to another bowl

10. Roll the arancini in the flour first, making sure to tap off any excess flour. Then roll in the beaten egg, then the breadcrumbs. Kids can happily take care of these steps as long as they don’t get too messy with the egg!

11. In batches of 3 or 4, gently place the arancini in the hot oil, using a slotted spoon. Cook for 2-4 minutes until golden-brown on the outside and crisp. Be very careful not to splash yourself as hot oil can be dangerous

12. Carefully remove the arancini from the oil with a slotted spoon and leave to drain some kitchen roll. Divide between four plates and serve with some green salad and the parsnip and yoghurt dip on the side

Recipe courtesy of Great British Chefs. Visit their site for more delicious kids recipes or download the free app with lots of great recipes on cooking with the kids.