Dinner Tonight: Risotto Cakes with Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula

So tonight I used last night's leftover risotto as the basis for this meal. Unfortunately, took longer and was messier to create than I thought it would be. Nevertheless, the end result tasted really good, so I think it's worth posting here. One note: there's at least 15 minutes worth of chilling time needed between when you form the risotto cakes to when you can fry them, so if I were to do this again, I might form the cakes earlier in the day so that when I was ready to get dinner out, I could speed up the whole process.



Risotto Cakes with Roasted Tomatoes and Arugula
Source: Everyday Food, October 2009
Serves 4. Prep time: 30 minutes. Total time: 30 minutes plus chilling

4 cups leftover Leek, Bacon and Pea Risotto, cold
2 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 8 cubes all-purpose flour for dredging
2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
4 sprigs thyme
1 Tb extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 bunches arugula, thick stems trimmed

Preheat oven to 450. Form risotto into 8 balls. Press a cube of cheese into each ball and flatten risotto into 1/2 inch patties (make sure cheese is covered). Dredge patties in flour and place on a baking sheet. Refrigerate until firm, 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a large rimmed baking sheet, toss tomatoes with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes begin to collapse, about 20 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat vegetable oil until it sizzles when a pinch of flour is added. Dredge patties in flour again, shaking off excess. In two batches, fry patties until golden and warmed through, about 10 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels. Serve risotto cakes with arugula and tomatoes.