A bunch of years ago when my hubby and I had just started dating, we went on a dinner date to a restaurant called The Risotto House. I remember that neither one of us were sure what risotto was and had to ask the waiter, who as I recall, looked at us like we were complete morons. Fast forward to now, and I get why the server thought the idea of us not being familiar with risotto was slightly ridiculous. I've since eaten it out at restaurants many times in Italy and also here in the states, and have made some awesome meals centering around it, including my recent dinner of sun-dried tomato risotto balls. Risotto is an Italian rice dish, that, when cooked the right way patiently standing over the stovetop continuously stirring it, comes out creamy and bursting with flavor. The other ... [Read More]
rice
Sun-Dried Tomato Risotto Balls
When I think back to my time studying abroad in Italy, a lot of mouthwatering food comes to mind - including rice balls. Though a lot of the time they contained ham or some other kind of meat, here and there I was able to find vegetarian ones. They were gooey, rich, and delicious, and I'm not sure that I've eaten them since my time in Sicily. That's why when I came across risotto cakes in my newest cookbook, Essential Vegetarian, I knew I had to try the recipe. Rice balls are typically deep fried. While they taste scrumptious, anything submerged in a bath of oil isn't exactly waistline friendly. That's why I tweaked the recipe and used less oil. When I decided to make them last night for dinner, I failed to realize that this recipe takes a good amount of prep time. After cooking the ... [Read More]