Ingredients

Method

For the risotto:
• 2 T extra virgin olive oil
• 60 g butter
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 300 g risotto rice
• ½ cup verjuice
• 4 cups chicken stock, heated
• 100 g Grana Padano, finely grated
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 150 g mozzarella, cut into small ±2 cm cubes
• 100 g flour
• 3 large free-range eggs, beaten
• 50 g panko breadcrumbs
• vegetable oil, for deep-frying
For the pistachio pesto:
• 60 g shelled pistachios
• 20 g fresh basil, blanched
• 20 g Italian parsley
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ lemon, zested and juiced
• 30 g Grana Padano, finely grated
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt, to taste
For serving:
• 70 g prosciutto
• pistachios
• fresh basil

Method

Ingredients

1. Heat the olive oil and 30 g butter in a large saucepan. Sauté the onion until soft, then add the garlic. Stir in the rice and cook until translucent. Deglaze the pan with the verjuice, then add the stock one ladleful at a time, stirring between each addition until completely absorbed before adding more. Cook until the rice is creamy and al dente.

2. Stir in the remaining butter and finely grated Grana Padano – ensure the rind has been well cleaned before grating – and season to taste. Spread onto a tray to cool completely.

3. Take a spoonful of risotto, flatten slightly in your palm, place a mozzarella cube in the centre, then enclose with more risotto to form a ball. Repeat with the remaining rice and mozzarella. Place on a tray and freeze for 30 minutes.

4. Roll each risotto ball in flour, dip in the beaten egg, then coat in the panko crumbs.

5. Heat the oil in a saucepan and deep-fry the arancini in batches until golden brown and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper.

6. To make the pistachio pesto, blend the pistachios, basil, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and juice, Grana Padano and olive oil until smooth. Adjust the seasoning and consistency with more oil if necessary.

7. Arrange the arancini on a platter with the pesto on the side for dipping. Add the prosciutto and scatter with extra pistachios and herbs. Serve hot.

Cook’s notes: Freezing the arancini helps them hold their shape and means they can be prepped ahead, perfect for entertaining. Add the well-cleaned Grana Padano rind and fresh thyme to the stock when heating it for added flavour.

Videography: Romy Wilson
Photography: Shavan Rahim
Recipe and Production: Bianca Jones

more Grana Padano recipes

With its crystalline, crumbly texture and mild, delicate flavour, it’s no mystery why Grana Padano is so popular. Its consistently excellent quality is a result of each wheel being examined at nine months by an impartial technician from the official Consortium of Grana Padano. Only after it has their approval does a wheel of Grana Padano receive its iconic firebrand – your guarantee of authenticity and exceptional flavour. 

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