Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Risotto Cakes with Goat Cheese


Every time I make risotto I make sure to double the recipe so that I have a lot of left-overs. As I noted in another risotto cake post, some restaurants actually make risotto just for the cakes. Once you taste one (good one, that is), you will definitely look forward to the next one.
When I made Chicken and Mushroom Risotto I made it really creamy. Really great as a risotto but it is a problem when you try to form a cake with the left-overs. I had no choice but to mix it with little bit of bread crumbs to give it some body.
To make the cake I chopped the leftover chicken and mushrooms, mixed them with soft goat cheese and formed a small ball. Then I formed ball with risotto, made deep indentation in risotto ball, placed goat cheese ball inside, enclosed it and flattened it to form a cake or pate about 3” in diameter and inch and half high. Next came 3-step breading job: first, coat cake in flour, then beaten egg and finally Panko. Press the Panko in so it doesn’t get loose when placed in hot oil. I shallow fried the cakes till light golden brown on all sides. In 10 minutes it was ready to be served with arugula and cherry tomatoes and freshly grated Parmigiano cheese on top.
I just love the texture of crisp Panko on the outside and soft risotto and creamy goat cheese on the inside, all in one bite!

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