There is this wonderful Adelaide business called Let them Eat. I've created a recipe inspired by their food before.
Besides their amazing salads they also have a fantastic array of tarts and fritters and then there is the parsnip, sage & marscapone arancini. I've recommended them to a few friends and those friends have both loved and cursed me for it.
A few of the said friends have demanded requested nicely that I create a recipe for something similar. So here you have it.
If parsnips are hard to come by then substituting similar amounts of roasted or steamed carrots or roasted pumpkin would work well too. I used coarse polenta/cornmeal for my crumb mixture but dried homemade breadcrumbs would be wonderful too.
You can eat them piping hot straight out of the oven but they go down well just warm or at room temperature too. Caramelised onions are their ideal accompaniment, Beerenberg do a fantastic version (the beetroot relish would also be sensational alonside).
Because they are crumbed and ball shaped they are perfect fare for kiddos too. Make mini ones to pop in to lunchboxes.
The different soft cheeses I have suggested all give different flavours so choose what you like. The marscapone is the most neutral and will let the lemon shine through more than the feta for example. If you wanted to get a bit tricky you could even stir through some brie with the rind removed, that would be delicious.
Creamy Parsnip & Lemon Arancini - Makes 8
Ingredients
Risotto
500g parsnips
2 Lemons
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 1/2 cups arborio or carnaroli rice
1 1/2 cup white wine or verjuice
3 cups water
1 Tbs fresh sage
75g soft feta, goats chevre or marscapone
Crumbing Mixture
1 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup polenta or bread crumbs
1/4 cup pepitas
1 Tbs sesame seeds
Method
Preheat your oven to about 200C while you cut the ends off the parsnips, peel them an chop them in half. Pop them all in a non metal baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and squeeze over a lemon. Throw them in the oven and cook until soft.
When the parsnips are done zest the second lemon over and squeeze on the juice. Leave to sit while you get on with the risotto.
In a large saucepan cook the finely chopped onion and garlic in about 1 Tbs olive oil until soft.
Pour in the rice and stir it to 'toast' the grains. When it starts to catch pour in the verjuice or wine to deglaze and follow that with the chopped sage.
Add the water about 3/4 cup at a time and stir the risotto fairly continuously adding more water as what you have already added is absorbed.
After two additions of water tip the contents of the baking dish into the saucepan. Give the base a good scrape to get all the caramelised lemon juice off the bottom. Pop the dish to one side because you will pop the finished risotto back in there to cool.
Smush the parsnips as you continue to add water and stir.
Once all of the water has been incorporated sitr in your cheese followed by freshly ground salt and pepper to taste.
When the rice is al dente tip the contents of the saucepan into the baking dish and cover with cling wrap while it cools.
Combine all the crumb ingredients in a bowl.
When the risotto is cool enough to handle heat the oven to 210C and divide the risotto roughly into 8 portions.
Form each portion into a ball and roll in the crumb mixture, pressing it on to the rice well.
Place the balls on a non stick baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Delicious I tell you.
Tatum xx
