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Crab arancini recipe

Crab arancini recipe

3 ratings

These crispy arancini are delicately flavoured with crab and watercress, and pair perfectly with the malty flavours of Doom Bar. Dip in the chilli mayo for a delicious snack. See our tip on how to make them veggie! See method

  • Serves 4 as a snack
  • 40 mins plus cooling
  • 494 calories / serving

Ingredients

  • 30g butter
  • 125g carnaroli or arborio rice
  • ½ vegetable stock cube, made up to 200ml
  • 75ml Doom Bar
  • 85g pack watercress
  • 100g pot ready-to-eat crab meat
  • 50g plain flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 75g panko breadcrumbs
  • approx 500ml sunflower oil, for frying
  • lemon wedges, to serve​ ​

For the chilli mayo

  • 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped​
Shop ingredients
Risotto rice can always be swapped for paella rice

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    2065kj
    494kcal
    25%
  • Fat

    25g 36%
  • Saturates

    6g 32%
  • Sugars

    5g 6%
  • Salt

    1.2g 21%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 53.8g Protein 12.1g Fibre 1.7g

Perfect pairing...

Perfect pairing...

Named after the infamous sandbank in Cornwall, Doom Bar is an amber ale that has a perfect balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness. It pairs nicely with everything from seafood, white fish and pork to a Sunday Roast. 

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Method

  1. Melt the butter in a medium pan over a medium heat, then stir in the rice. Add the Doom Bar ale and simmer, stirring, until the rice has absorbed most of the ale. Add the stock in 2 batches, stirring as it's absorbed. Cover and cook over a low heat for 15-20 mins, stirring every few mins, until al dente.
  2. Meanwhile, finely chop a small handful of watercress to give you about 2 tbsp.  ​ 
  3. Remove the risotto from the heat, season with black pepper and stir through the crab meat and chopped watercress. Set aside to cool completely.​ 
  4. Form the cooled risotto into 16 walnut-sized balls. Roll the balls in the flour, then in the beaten egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. (At this stage you can cover and chill in the fridge for up to 1 day.)
  5. Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. It's hot enough when the oil bubbles around the tip of a wooden spoon dipped in the oil, or a kitchen thermometer reads 170°C.
  6. Fry the arancini for 2-3 mins until golden all over. Spoon onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain. 
  7. Mix the chilli mayo ingredients together in a bowl.
  8. Serve the arancini with the remaining watercress and chilli mayo for dipping, with lemon wedges to squeeze over.

See more Snack recipes

Tip: For a vegetarian option, omit the crab meat and replace with 70g grated Tesco Finest Extra Mature English Cheddar in step 3.

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