Risotto Balls

While dining out this week, I came across risotto balls, effectively balls of leftover risotto coated in breadcrumbs and shallow- or deep-fried to perfection. Out of sheer curiosity, I decided to see if I could try to do the same thing at home. I still have plenty of Sainsbury's Basics ingredients lying around in my kitchen, so I was more keen to use up everything I have rather than to buy something new to introduce on this blog.

Most students would have readily available the ingredients used today, so I would imagine this is another way to add variety to a budget-constrained kitchen with few ingredients.

If you don't already have some risotto, boil some Basics rice as shown. the depth of water to be added should be slightly over the distance between the tip and the point of the index finger where the nail ends. If you add too much water and end up with what I have above, calmly pour off any excess water. Stir in some Basics grated cheese, and season with pepper and Basics herb mix.

Make some breadcrumbs by toasting stale bread, and then pounding. Add Basics grated hard cheese (the Parmesan substitute) for extra flavour, if desired.

Assemble as shown. Two spoons were used to make a ball, before rolling in the bread crumbs.

Proceed to deep-fry. If you want to avoid any mess from frying, you can attempt to bake them, coating with a layer of oil before doing so at 200 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.

While the risotto balls had great texture, the overall taste was pretty bland. I was expecting the cheese to lend some flavour, but that turned out not to be the case. Adding some ham and peas could have helped there, as well as adding some needed colour.