Hereâs the scene, this past weekend: Weâre at my in-lawsâ for the postponed Christmas brunch. In bed, around midnight, the night before the gathering. Stephen’s eating a buttload of Little Gramâs chocolate chip cookies (made by his mom since, sadly, Little Gram passed away two years agoâher recipes ensure a measure of immortality). Iâm sleeping. This, by the way, is not at all uncommon. My husband often enjoys a late night snack in bed while I snooze beside him. Sexy, right? Anyhoosie⊠I wake to the high-pitched sound of Stephen, panicking. A piece of his tooth has broken off, a shard from a molar with a big olâ filling. A tooth heâs been told will require root canal at some point. Hence the panic.
Luckily thereâs no pain, but the anticipation of pain makes Stephen unwilling to eat. Thatâs right, he skips the candied bacon. And the panettone French toast, too. Poor man. His familyâs Christmas feast comes but once a year, and all he eats is a smoothie and about thirty of Little Gramâs meatballs (phew, his brother brought a batch).
Everythingâs fixed now, thank goodness, but early in the week he was on an all-soft diet, so one night I made risotto. Which meant leftovers. Which meant risotto cakes! But since weâre coming off the holiday dietary madness, the idea of frying them wasnât exactly appealing. So I applied a method Iâve seen done for latkes: I fried them for just a minute, in a scant two tablespoons of oil, then finished them in the oven. Came out perfectly crispy, I tell ya. Crispy. Using panko crumbsâand whole wheat, no lessâdefinitely helped. Served with a little marinara for dunking, theyâre just the thing for a cold winterâs night.
*Yeah, yeah, I know. Some people object to the use of the word âcrispy.â I am not among them, and in fact I wholeheartedly disagree with the notion that âcrispâ is an equivalent. So there.
Crispy Baked Risotto Cakes
Makes about a dozen
1-1œ cups whole wheat panko crumbs
salt
2-3 cups leftover risotto, any kind [mine was zucchini-spinach]
2 tablespoons olive oil
Preheat oven to 350. Place a cooling rack inside a baking sheet and set aside.
Combine panko and salt in a bowl. With your hands, form risotto into balls using a generous two tablespoons at a time, then flatten slightly. Roll each flattened ball in the panko, pressing gently, then transfer to a plate. When all are breaded, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
When oil is nearly smoking, add the cakes. Donât crowd the panâdo this in batches if necessary, which may require a little more oil for the second round. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until lightly browned, then flip and do the same on the other side. Remove to the prepared cooling rack. After youâve got them all browned, put the tray into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown all over. Serve with marinara sauce.
Yikes, glad Stephen's tooth is ok now! I guess the silver lining is that we got this delicious recipe…
I never had baked risottos! I am glad you shared this to us!
These sound good. Sorry about the tooth!
Oh, my goodness! I visit your blog and start to drool.
I totally *thought* I could do this with the leftover risotto in my fridge, googled, and got your blog, which is exactly how I planned to do them. đ Thanks for bolstering my confidence!
Any time, Heather! Enjoy!
Oooh, super yum! Sounds like risotto for dinner tonight, with extra leftovers.