Spaghetti carbonara arancini
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + chilling
- A little effort
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 75g mozzarella, cut into 2cm cubes
- 50g plain flour, well seasoned
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 100g panko breadcrumbs
- for deep frying vegetable oil
- sea salt flakes
CARBONARA
- 77g pack diced pancetta
- 1 clove garlic, bashed
- 2 egg yolks
- crushed to make ¼ tsp black peppercorns
- 75g Grana Padano, finely grated
- 3 tbsp double cream
- 150g spaghetti, broken into 2cm pieces
Method
- STEP 1
To make the carbonara, put the pancetta and garlic into a cold frying pan and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the fat has rendered from the pancetta and is really crisp, and the garlic is golden. Remove from the heat and discard the garlic.
- STEP 2
Beat together the egg yolks, black pepper, Grana Padano and double cream in a small bowl.
- STEP 3
Cook the spaghetti in salted boiling water following pack instructions, then drain, reserving a cup of the pasta water.
- STEP 4
Tip the spaghetti into the pancetta pan and add a spoonful of the cooking water to the yolk mix. Stir well, then pour into the pancetta pan and put over a low heat. Toss everything, adding a little more pasta water and cooking for a minute until the sauce is thick. Cool completely then chill for 2 hours.
- STEP 5
Using damp, clean hands take a piece of mozzarella and form the cold carbonara round it to roughly the size of a golf ball and put on a tray. Repeat with the remaining mozzarella and carbonara.
- STEP 6
Toss the arancini first into the seasoned flour, then in the beaten egg and then the breadcrumbs, so they’re well coated.
- STEP 7
Fill a pan no more than 1/3 full with vegetable oil and heat to 180C or until a cube of bread browns in 30 seconds. Cook the arancini, in batches, for 2-3 minutes or until really crisp and golden, then drain on kitchen paper and season lightly with sea salt flakes.