Charred Ramp Arancini

Tomorrow is one of my favorite events of the year: Flavors on the Avenue! I’ve written past posts about this event, but this year, they are switching things up a bit. The event, usually held under a tent, is coming out onto the street to make for what should be a pretty awesome five block street festival tomorrow, April 30 from noon to 5 pm.  The event will be held around the Singing Fountain at the intersection of S 11th, Tasker and Passyunk.

Tickets aren’t required to attend the event, although they are strongly encouraged. Cost is $50 each and include all of the dishes, two glasses of beer or wine, and valet parking – a $130 value. You can also pay as you go; each dish will be priced at $3 to $6. Further details can be found here.

East Passyunk Avenue is known for its fantastic restaurants, and a bunch of them (27!) are participating in this event. There will also be free kids’ activities and a crafter’s market. Here is a list of participants and the food they will be serving: (note: options shown in photos above are in bold)

• Bing Bing Dim Sum: Pork Buns, Corn Rangoon
• Birra: Pizza slices, plain and pepperoni
• Brigantessa: Chorizo Cotto with whipped ricotta and peas
• Cantina los Caballitos: Tacos al Pastor, Elote, Classic and Cucumber Margaritas
• Chhaya: Fried chicken and waffles, Iced coffee
• El Sarape: Tacos al Pastor, Pina Coladas
• Fond: Salmon Tartare with sesame, nori and avocado
• Izumi: Pork Gyoza
• Laurel: Chocolate egg cream pudding pops
• Le Virtu: Octopus and chick pea salad
• Mamma Maria: Cheese ravioli
• Marra’s: Mozzarella pizza
• Noir: Arancini balls, watermelon salad
• Noord: Bitterballen (Dutch meatballs with nutmeg and mustard)
• Paradiso: Arancini Di Riso
• Perla: Pork Belly, Adobo with garlic rice
• Plenty Cafe: Choripan (Traditional South African sandwich with chorizo, chimichurri, and pickled red onion on a baguette)
• POPE: Zucchini feta fritters, Cashew teriyaki
• P’unk Burger: Pulled Portobello sandwiches, Caprese pesto burgers
• Sate Kampar: Achat (carrots, cucumber, peanuts and chile sauce), Sago Gula Melaka (sago pearls, coconut cream, palm nectar) and Chicken Sate
• Stargazy: Sausage Rolls, Potato Masala Rolls, Sticky Toffee Sundaes
• Stateside: House-made steam buns with duck confit, peppadew and radicchio
• Stogie Joe’s: Meatballs with Toasted Bread
• Townsend: Roast pork sandwiches
• Tre Scalini: Tripe in Umido
• Vanilya Bakery: Buttercream cookies, Buttercream cupcakes
• Will BYOB: Caramelized onion crepes, Banana and caramel crepes

I had the opportunity to go on a media tour a try a bunch of these bites. Noord’s Bitterballen remains one of my favorites (they serve it every year, and every year I love them). New to Flavors is Sate Kampar, and all of their offerings are fantastic! Absolutely go try the Achat, Sago Hula Melaka, and Chicken Sate.

One of the restaurants on the media tour was Brigantessa. If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen my high praise for their Charred Ramp Arancini. They were absolutely delicious. Unfortunately, Brigantessa is not serving these for Flavors, but is serving Chorizo Cotto with Whipped Ricotta and Peas that sounds right up my alley as well. There will be plenty of arancini available though, a few restaurants are serving it.

I wanted to try my hand at making the Brigantessa Aracini, so here goes! I adapted this recipe to include charred ramps, which adds a slight onion flavor to the cheesy rice ball.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup arborio rice
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (2 ounces)
• 1/2 cup shredded fontina cheese (2 ounces)
• 8 ramp leaves, charred
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs
• Vegetable oil, for frying

Bring 3 cups chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the arborio rice, reduce the heat to low and simmer until tender and the broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes.

Spread on a  baking sheet and let cool completely.

Lightly toast your pine nuts over medium heat until fragrant.

Add the ramp leaves to a grill pan over medium high heat. Turn after 30 seconds. After another 30 seconds, remove from heat. Let cool slightly and chop.

Combine the pine nuts, mozzarella, fontina and charred ramps in a bowl; set aside.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the cooled rice, the parmesan and 2/3 cup breadcrumbs.

Shape the mixture into sixteen 1 1/2-inch balls.

Put the remaining breadcrumbs in a shallow bowl. Press your finger into the center of each rice ball, insert 2 teaspoons of the mozzarella mixture, then pinch the rice around the filling to enclose.

Roll the balls in the breadcrumbs and place on a  baking sheet. Loosely cover and refrigerate, at least 1 hour or overnight. (If refrigerating overnight, roll in more breadcrumbs before frying.)

Heat 1/2 inch vegetable oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer registers 350 degrees F. Working in batches, fry the rice balls, turning, until golden brown on all sides, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

Crunchy, cheesy, flavorful happiness. Mmm. I could eat arancini All. Day. Long.

The charred ramps are a really nice touch. They add a slight onion flavor as well as a subtle smokiness from the char.

I’m looking forward to eating my way down East Passyunk tomorrow!