Little Orange Arancini and Pizza Bar & The Market Shed on Holland

I dropped into the Market Shed on Holland two weeks ago, a new Adelaide inner city market with a focus on certified organic, sustainable and local produce. Whilst there I tried some polenta Chips from the Little Orange Arancini and Pizza Bar and was so impressed that I sent them a message on facebook. Daniel the owner was nice enough to invite me back to try out the rest of their menu the following week.. and who was I to turn down an offer like that?

Everything is made by Daniel and his partner using fresh and where possible organic ingredients as well as being fried in coconut oil! On this occasion we were able to try three types of arancini plus have the amazing polenta chips again.

The arancini we had were the aborio rice with beef ragu, the organic brown rice with porcini mushroom and the organic quinoa with beetroot, pine nuts and goats cheese. We started with the quinoa arancini, this was a stunning red colour on the inside and the beetroot flavour really shone through. There were plenty of pine nuts and the goats cheese was oozy and creamy. The flavour balance was great and the quinoa was cooked well, not undercooked or soggy. 

Next up we had the mushroom arancini. I have to say this was probably my favourite of the three, the rice was perfectly cooked, the mushroom flavour was intense and there was an unbelievable depth and richness. It was really delicious, very filling and I honestly believe that this would be an outstanding risotto! Both of these arancini were served with a nice pesto that complemented the flavours of the arancini without overpowering them, it was garlicky and smooth with a well balanced herb flavour.

The last arancini, the beef ragu was a close second for top spot for me, but was my friend's favourite. The ragu was meaty and had a fantastic tomato based flavour that reminded me of traditional homestyle ragu pasta dishes. The inside was soft and creamy and again the rice was perfectly cooked, whilst the outside was golden and crunchy. This flavour was topped off with a rich tomato sauce that certainly left me wanting more. All three arancini were delicious without a hint of oiliness, a perfect crunchy coating and were really filling, probably the best arancini I've had in Adelaide. All I can say is if the arancini is this good I'd expect that Daniel makes a fantastic risotto/pasta dish as well!

The polenta chips are seriously amazing, they are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and in no way greasy. They have a fantastic buttery rosemary flavour and are very, very moreish. They have also started offering a vegan version which is fantastic. I haven't ever really had polenta 'chips' but if i compare it to fried polenta cakes these were so, so much better! If you try only one thing at the Market Shed on Holland make sure it's these.

If you head into the Market Shed (and I really suggest you do, they are a great initiative and deserve all the support they can get!) you must try out Little Orange Arancini and Pizza Bar. They are not only serving fantastic organic delicious food they are are a local business supporting local producers. The pizza oven isn't up and running yet but I will certainly be one of the first in line to try out the pizza when it is!

I've included some photos of the Market Shed as this place is seriously awesome. The produce is amazing and there are so many fantastic stalls and food vendors. I am seriously impressed with the concept and plan to be heading in fortnightly at the very least to do some shopping and can't encourage people to support these kinds of initiatives enough, they are what make Adelaide great and provide not only quality, local, sustainable and healthy options but support South Australian businesses as well.