Sartù di riso (Neapolitan Rice Timbale)
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Sartù di riso (Neapolitan Rice Timbale)
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Perfect for any time of day, this recipe delivers great flavor effortlessly.
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Ingredients
For the ragú:
- onion finely chopped, large
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 3-4 sausages mild 'Italian' type, large
- olive oil or, better, lard
- salt
- black pepper
- red wine
- 2 tomatoes 800g/28 oz. passed through a food mill, or the equivalent of crushed or puréed tomatoes, large cans
- parsley a sprig or two, fresh
For the rice:
- 500 g risotto rice 1 lb
- A ladleful or two of the ragù above, mixed with enough additional water to make one liter/one quart of liquid
- salt
- 3 egg
- 100 g Parmesan Cheese 3-1/2 oz., freshly grated
- parsley finely chopped, a few sprigs, fresh
For the polpettine (little meatballs):
- 250 g beef or pork and/or veal, 1/2 lb., chopped
- 50 g Parmesan Cheese 1-1/4 oz., freshly grated
- 100 g breadcrumbs 3-1/2 oz., or day-old bread, trimmed and soaked
- parsley finely chopped, a few sprigs, fresh
- olive oil or another vegetable oil, for frying
For the rest of the stuffing:
- fiordilatte cheese mozzarella cheese made with cow's milk (see Notes), sliced or cubed, one ball
- 25 g dried mushrooms 1 oz., preferably porcini, soaked in water until soft
- 200 g peas 7 oz., frozen or a small can
For the mold:
- butter or lard
- breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Start by making the ragù, using the ingredients listed above and following the method for Angelina's Sunday Sauce.
- Precook the rice: Mix the ragù and water together, season generously with salt. (Taste the liquid to make sure it is quite savory.) Put the rice and the liquid together in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Stir once, then lower the heat to a gentle simmer, cover and let cook for 15 minutes, stirring only once about halfway through. The liquid should be fully absorbed and the rice should still be slightly underdone, rather chalky to the tooth.
- Then transfer the rice to a large mixing bowl and let it cool entirely, then add the remaining eggs, cheese and parsley. Taste and adjust for seasoning—the rice should be very flavorful. (NB: While the rice is simmering, you can let your dried mushrooms soak.)
- Make the polpettine: Mix all of the ingredients listed above together in a large bowl. Form them into the smallest meatballs you can manage, about the size of hazelnut, rolling them between your palms. Fry your little meatballs in abundant olive oil until they are nicely browned on all sides. Make sure that you leave lots of room in the pan for them to fry properly; you will probably need to fry them in batches. NB: Since they're so small, they will cook in only a few minutes. Drain them on paper towels.
- Set up your mis en place: Fish out a few of the sausages from the ragù and slice them up. Slice the mozzarella and get your peas. You should now have everything ready to go: your rice, your soaked mushrooms, the little meatballs, the frozen peas, your sliced mozzarella. Lay them out on your work space so you're ready to put everything together.
- Prepare the stuffing: Mix together the sausages, meatballs, peas and mushrooms. Nap them with a ladleful of ragù and mix so they are well coated. Taste and adjust for seasoning; the stuffing should be rich and savory.
- Assemble the sartù: Line a mold of your choice very generously with butter (or, if you really want to be authentic, lard) then breadcrumbs. (I like to use a Charlotte mold, but there are other possibilities; see Notes below.) Make sure to line the mold very well. This step is really important to avoid the rice sticking to your mold. And that would be a real shame after all the effort you're putting in...
- Take two thirds of the rice mixture and line the bottom and sides, leaving a large well in the middle for the stuffing. Make sure the rice makes a rather thick 'wall' around the sides, enough to hold up the finished timbale. Add the stuffing into the well, starting with a layer of mozzarella, then the stuffing ingredients, proceeding in layers until you're almost (but not quite) up to the top of the mold, like so:
- Then add the rest of the rice and flatten it out so it is flush with the top of the mold. Sprinkle with some more breadcrumbs and dot with some more butter (or lard).
- Bake the sartù in a moderate oven (180C/350F) for a good 30-45 minutes, depending on the shape and size of the mold, until the top is golden brown. (If using a ring mold or individual molds, it will be done in more like 20-30 minutes.)
- Remove the sartù from the oven and let it rest for a good 10-15 minutes. (It can wait up to 30 minutes if you like and some recipes tell you to do so. The longer the wait, the more solid the sartù will be.) Again, this step is critical to keep the sartù in shape.
- Unmold the sartù by placing a large plate over the top of the mold, then, using oven mitts or towels so you don't burn yourself, holding and flipping both mold and plate over together. Then, with the mold upside down on the plate, give the bottom (now the 'top') of the mold a good wack with a heavy knife or mallet or something to loosen it from the mold. Gently lift the mold up, just a smidgen, shaking it a bit until you feel the sartù come loose from the mold and drop onto the plate.
- Serve the sartù whole, cutting it at table like a cake for your dinner guests, along with a sauce boat of the remaining ragù and some freshly grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese for those who want some.
Notes
- The recipe for Sunday Sauce can be found at: http://memoriediangelina.com/2009/10/12/il-ragu-della-domenica-sunday-sauce/
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