Look out, Lucky’s Puccias. Enoteca, Vespaio—you’d be wise to watch your step as well, brick and mortar though you may be. There’s a new Italian trailer in Austin that can juggle circles around you. And by circles, I mean the perfect fried risotto orbs (said to resemble oranges) called arancini at the eponymously named trailer, Arancini.

Let’s start there, with three big, deep-fried risotto balls. With fat rice, peas, slivers of prosciutto, and melty mozzarella, these traditional Sicilian street-food delicacies tasted divine (though they didn’t need the Chef Boyardee tomato dipping sauce on the side). It was hard to decide which was my favorite, the arancini or the meatball slider. The spiced meat in the slider was stuffed with mozzarella and grilled to crispness on the border, packed all around with a tomatoey beef-and-carrot stew concoction, and delivered on a grilled, olive-oil-buttered bun. The stew fell off onto the plate almost as soon as I picked up the slider, but it was quickly devoured, as was the sandwich.

After such decadence, I thought I’d pay penance with the fried brussels sprouts, but these turned out to steal the show. Crisp on the outside and butter-tender on the inside, they were served in a zesty lemon vinaigrette with plenty of capers. Addictive, light, and healthy, the brussels disappeared in a matter of minutes. Same went for the flatbread with shrimp and arugula—three hearty pieces of grilled flatbread with baby arugula in a light dressing with shaved Parmesan and a few flavorful, breaded baby shrimp on top (truthfully, I would have liked to have seen more shrimp).

Ironically, the only flat note was the round rigatoni with house-made ricotta and tomato sauce. The ricotta was smooth if a little bland, and the tomato sauce and rigatoni had a strange aftertaste. The dish was topped with chopped Italian parsley but could have used some garlic or fresh basil to jazz it up.

Arancini’s dessert, though, was pitch-perfect. They generally rotate sweets, and this week it was rich, buttery French toast stuffed with Nutella and grilled bananas and topped with crushed hazelnuts. The dish was so decadent, I’d order it any day over Dough’s amazing Nutella panini, in San Antonio.

So maybe I should extend that warning offered above. To Italian restaurants all across Texas: Better watch your ovens and open flames. Arancini has arrived.

SoFi Food Court, 601 W. Live Oak (512-284-8865). Dinner only. Tue–Thur 5–9, Fri & Sat 5–10.

Posted by Megan Giller

Tagged: Arancini, Italian food, Trailer Thursday

Ah, Italia. A country with a language so beautiful it can romance even the basest American classics. Casserolderci. Jell-O-tto. Brisketti. Puccia. Wait, that last one? Pronounced poo-chah, it may not be the prettiest word but it’s all real, and an amazing sandwich to boot.

First, let’s talk bread. Forget dry whole-wheat. Multigrain, be gone! Even sourdough can’t compare. Imagine the most perfect pizza dough, delicate and crisp on the outside, light and chewy on the inside. Now imagine it shaped into an individually sized round and wood-fired before your eyes (in a trailer, nonetheless!). Watch as Lucky, the owner, scoops it out of the oven, slices the bread as it’s still steaming, and stacks organic gourmet ingredients on top of organic gourmet ingredients before serving it straight to you.

The eponymous sandwich, Lucky’s Puccia, featured a healthy amount of prosciutto; fresh, juicy mozzarella; forest-green arugula; slices of ripe tomato; and basil oil (like pesto but much lighter). On Lucky’s suggestion, we added the slightly spicy chipotle mayo. Decadently rich, the result made us melt faster than an Italian hunk whispering amore in our ears.

The Puccia Arrostita, with roast beef, arugula, tomato, fresh mozzarella, and walnut spread, came in a close second. We added red-pepper oil, which in theory sounded delicious but in practice was too subtle. (Also, as a side note, if they recommend adding oils or spreads to every sandwich, I’d recommend they include those oils or spreads in the sandwich to begin with.) The almost-cheesy walnut spread tasted sweet at first, then garlicky, then a little too garlicky, just like the Italian hunk mentioned above on day four of his inner-ear cooings.

One love that will never die, though, is the Nutella-and-peanut-butter puccia. Picture that heavenly bread, pulled straight from the oven and sprinkled with sea salt, then heaped with mounds of melting Nutella and a layer of peanut butter in between, like the richest, most delicious peanut butter cup you could possibly imagine. I’m not sure they serve this one in Puglia, where Lucky hails from, but I’m very glad romance led him to Texas (he and his wife, Kimberly, run the trailer together) to make these regional delicacies, so that I could lead these hearty, gourmet sandwiches to my mouth. Amore indeed.

Posted by Megan Giller

Tagged: Italian food, sandwiches, Trailer Thursday