recipe

Sartù di Riso: the tasty recipe for the Neapolitan baked risotto

Total time: 120 Min

Difficulty: Medium

Serves: 8 people

Sartù di riso, or rice sartu, is a typical dish of the Campania tradition (Italy). It is a Neapolitan timbale of rice stuffed with meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, peas and mozzarella cheese. Rich and tasty, it is perfect for a family dinner, made both with and without tomato sauce.

This is the classic sartù di riso, in which the rice is seasoned with the Neapolitan ragù tomato sauce, a rich meat-based sauce; in this case we used the sausages, then added to the stuffing along with the fried meatballs. Because Neapolitan cuisine is like this; nothing is thrown away, everything is recycled, to create delicious recipes.

Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, the sartù di riso is a dish that is often made during the holidays as it feeds a crowd. It is also beautifully show-stopping because it can be baked in a bundt cake mold taking on a beautiful ring shape.

The preparation is quite long but it is really worth it, and then sartù di riso can be enjoyed even the next day; just heat it in the microwave oven and sartù di riso will taste like you have just baked it.

Sartù di Riso Origins

The Italian word sartù derives from the French expression sour tout, which indicated a garment capable of "covering everything", such as an overcoat or cloak.

In the 18th century the French cooks, who worked in the noble houses, had elaborated this dish based on rice, adding tomato sauce and a rich filling based on meat, eggs, peas.

Anyway, Neapolitan people were mostly pasta lovers and did not prefer rice, because they considered it a poor food and not suitable for succulent preparations. It is said, however, that when King Ferdinand of Bourbon tasted the sartù di riso, he was so pleased that his fame soon spread, allowing rice sartu to enter fully into the Neapolitan culinary tradition.

Tips for making Neapolitan Sartù di Riso

For a vegetarian sartù di riso, you can leave out meat and make vegetarian-friendly meatballs.

You can make the Neapolitan ragù tomato sauce with different types of meat, in this case use two liters of tomato sauce and add pork ribs and beef to the sausages. You will have to cook it for at least three hours. You can simmer the meat with the red wine to make the sauce even more full-bodied.

Grease the mold well and be careful to cover it entirely with the breadcrumbs, because the sartù di riso must have a nice external crust, without risking breaking once it is taken out of the oven. So be careful to make the rice adhere well to the edges of the mold, compacting it gently.

It is not necessary to use a bundt cake mold, you can also cook the rice sartu in a simple baking dish of the shape you prefer.

How to store Sartù di Riso

The sartù di riso can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with a sheet of cling film, for 2 days. Freezing is not recommended.

Ingredients

for the ragù sauce

tomato sauce

750 ml

Sausages

300 g

Onion

1/2

White wine

50 ml

extra virgin olive oil

salt

for the meatballs

ground veal or beef

200 g

breadcrumbs

80 g

egg

Grated parmesan cheese

40 g

Milk

salt

Pepper

for the rice

ribe or arborio rice

400 g

Medium eggs

Grated parmesan cheese

150 g

for the stuffing

Frozen or fresh peas

200 g

Mozzarella cheese

150 g

hard-boiled eggs

ham, cut into cubes

50 g

Onion

1/2

extra virgin olive oil

salt

to garnish

butter

breadcrumbs

How to make Sartù di Riso

Step 1

Proceed with the preparation of the sauce; in a saucepan, fry ½ chopped onion with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Step 2

Add the sausages.

Step 3

Sauté for a few minutes.

Step 4

Simmer with the white wine and then pour the tomato puree, then add a pinch of salt. Cook for at least 1 hour.

Step 5

In a small bowl put the breadcrumbs to soak in milk. In a separate container pour the minced meat, then add a pinch of salt, pepper and the breadcrumbs dipped in milk.

Step 6

Add the eggs.

Step 7

Mix the ingredients well, incorporating the grated parmesan cheese.

Step 8

Knead to form a homogeneous mixture.

Step 9

Form the meatballs, slightly larger than a hazelnut.

Step 10

Continue until the dough is finished.

Step 11

Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fry the meatballs.

Step 12

Once cooked, drain and transfer the meatballs to a plate covered with absorbent kitchen paper.

Step 13

Meanwhile, in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, brown ½ onion, cut into small pieces, and add the peas.

Step 14

Also add the diced baked ham and dried mushrooms, then cook for 20 minutes.

Step 15

When the ragù tomato sauce is ready, take the meat and set it aside 15

Step 16

Bring the ragù tomato sauce to a boil and add the rice.

Step 17

Cook the rice adding, if needed, a few ladles of hot water.

Step 18

Stir in the grated parmesan cheese and beaten eggs.

Step 19

Add a third of the peas.

Step 20

Take a bundt cake mold, butter it and sprinkle it with breadcrumbs. Line the bottom and edges of the mold with half the rice.

Step 21

Compact well.

Step 22

Add the rest of the peas and the meatballs to the center.

Step 23

Also add the hard-boiled eggs into small pieces.

Step 24

Complete with a little ragù tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and sausage into small pieces.

Step 25

Cover with the rest of the rice.

Step 26

Mash well to make the rice stick to the filling.

Step 27

Sprinkle the surface with breadcrumbs and a few sprigs of butter.

Step 28

Cook at 180° C (356° F) for about thirty minutes. Once baked, take sartù di riso out of the oven and let it cool for about ten minutes; then turn the sartù di riso upside down on a serving dish.

Step 29

Slice and serve.