Jollof Rice Arancini
This recipe does double duty. On its own, it makes a delicious pot of jollof rice that you can eat and enjoy, with some fish or fried plantains on the side. But we looked at this recipe and decided, why not stuff them and roll them into balls? Though arancini is commonly associated with Italian risotto, there’s nothing that says we can’t take an African dish and give it the arancini treatment. We served this with a mafé peanut sauce, a versatile African sauce that is packed with flavor and is incredibly easy to make and eat.
Since we wanted to make arancini and thus wanted our rice to stick together, we allowed the rice to retain its natural starches and did not rinse it. If you want to use this recipe to make jollof rice without rolling it into arancini, rinse your rice until the water runs clear to prevent it from getting sticky. If you want to make a pot of jollof and then maybe use the leftovers for arancini? Don’t worry, you can add an egg as a binder if necessary and then roll the rice into balls.
For the rice
3 medium plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 large red or orange bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
2 medium red onions, one roughly chopped, the other thinly sliced, divided
2 teaspoons plus 1 Tablespoon Jollof Rice Seasoning, divided
3 cups vegetable stock, divided
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
2 Whole Bay Leaves
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups jasmine or other fragrant, long-grain rice
1 Tablespoon butter (optional)
10 ounces mozzarella
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1-2 cups vegetable oil, or as needed
For the mafé sauce
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped in 1/4 inch dice
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon California Roasted Minced Garlic
2 Whole Bay Leaves
1 teaspoon Smoked Bourbon Barrel Salt Flakes
1 teaspoon Bourbon Barrel Smoked Pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons Smoked Sweet Paprika
2 cups vegetable stock or water, or a combination of both
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1. Put tomatoes, bell peppers, and roughly chopped onions in a blender. Toss in 2 teaspoons Jollof Rice Seasoning and 1 cup vegetable stock. Puree together until smooth, then pour into a large pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a steady simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
2. Put vegetable oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced onions and saute until soft and golden, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add remaining 1 Tablespoon Jollof Rice Seasoning, Kosher Salt, and Whole Bay Leaves to the onions. Cook until spices are fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Then add tomato paste and cook for another 1-2 minutes, until tomato paste is nicely browned.
4. Stir in the reduced pepper-tomato mixture and stir over heat to fully incorporate with the seasonings. Add remaining 2 cups vegetable stock and rice. Stir to combine and bring to a boil.
5. Drop heat to a low simmer. Cover rice with a tight-fitting lid, or insulate the lid with parchment or foil, to keep steam trapped. Simmer for 23 minutes; once it has simmered, turn of the heat but leave the lid on the rice for another 5-7 minutes.
6. While rice is cooking, make the mafé sauce. Put vegetable oil in a saucepan warming over medium heat. Add diced onions and saute until soft and just turning golden, 2-3 minutes.
7. Add tomato paste and honey to onions and cook together for 1-2 minutes to caramelize. Pour in apple cider vinegar and cook one minute longer.
8. Add California Roasted Minced Garlic, Whole Bay Leaves, Bourbon Barrel Smoked Salt, Bourbon Barrel Smoked Black Pepper, and Smoked Sweet Paprika to the tomato-onion-honey mixture. Cook together for 1 minute to allow spices to bloom.
9. Stir in vegetable stock and peanut butter. Stir until fully incorporated. Boil, then reduce heat to medium low and simmer until sauce is smooth and thick, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
10. Remove lid from the rice. If desired, add one Tablespoon of unsalted butter to the pot, then stir to fluff the rice. You should have 6 cups of cooked rice. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Set aside to cool.
11. When rice is cool enough to handle, break into 2-cup portions. Mound each portion into a circular mound and cut that mound into 8 equal pieces. Repeat until all the rice is portioned out. Pat flat into patties.
12. Cut mozzarella into 1/2 to 1 inch squares. Place a square of mozzarella on a rice patty and fold the rice around it into balls. Continue until all rice is stuffed and rolled. Place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to set up.
13. Set out cornstarch, beaten eggs, and panko breadcrumbs in three shallow bowls. Dredge a rice ball in cornstarch, followed by eggs, followed by panko as the crispy outer coating.
14. Heat oil in a deep pan. Working in batches, carefully add rice balls to the pan, cooking for 4-5 minutes per side, until rice balls are golden brown on all sides. Serve with mafé sauce, an additional sprinkling of cheese, and some parsley, chives, or crushed peanuts.
