What's For Dinner: Arancini, Spring Rolls And Spiced Doughnuts
Exercise your right to eat doughnuts for dinner
Not feeling inspired by your usual dishes? Here's what's for dinner.
Today is a special kind of Fry-day: It's June 5, National Doughnut Day. Doughnuts can be polarizing entities—cake vs. yeasted, filled vs. glazed, Munchkins® vs. Timbits—but today, we're putting aside our differences and rejoicing in all that is fried and doughy. During World War II, Doughnut Dollies boosted soldiers' morales in one of the best ways possible: by providing fresh doughnuts and coffee. The holiday was created to honor their good deeds, so fire up a pot of oil and make your country proud.
① Appetizer: Paella Arancini
At first glance, a plate of arancini looks like a bounty of Munchkins® (yes, or Timbits). But a closer look (and your first bite) will reveal the sausage, seafood and paprika-scented rice of a rich Spanish paella.
② Main Course: Vegetarian Spring Rolls
Fried dough can take many shapes: round zeppole, tricornered samosa, spaghetti-esque funnel cake. Here, dough is wrapped around a savory mushroom, cabbage and snow pea filling and rolled into a ready-to-fry cylinder.
③ Dessert: Baharat-Spiced Sufganiyot with Espresso Fudge
Alon Shaya serves his traditional sufganiyot with an untraditional though highly addictive espresso fudge sauce. These are yeasted doughnuts, meaning they're fluffier than their cake counterparts. Their sweet, spiced flavor will make National Doughnut Day feel like Hanukkah in June.