Leftover rice cake
Ok, this isn’t going to win any awards for beauty, and it’s nothing you’re going to brag to your mother about to demonstrate your amazing cooking skills. This is just another way to use up leftover rice (or risotto), that isn’t fried rice. Cheese is sprinkled over the top and baked..so er…it’s a bit like a savoury icing…?
It’s like a massive vege burger in a way, with grilled cheese on top, crispy crumby cheese edges, and a nice moist middle. The bonus is that you don’t need to get your hands dirty shaping any patties, and you don’t need to dip the patties into breadcrumbs. I’m considering making all my vege burger recipes like this from now on – you can still cut them into wedges and put them in a sandwich or bun. No sitting by the pan, no keeping the patties hot in a warm oven. Plenty of time to whip up a salad or even steamed veges and serve them piping hot at the same time. This is incredibly versatile too. I made a very stripped down version because I was lazy, but you could add sauteed mushrooms or herbs or even more cheese, or flecks of roasted red pepper. Grated zucchini? Chopped olives? Pumpkin mash? The opportunities! It’s like arancini for lazy people without deep fryers! Ok, so it’s not really like arancini at all, please apologise to your Italian grandmother for me.
Leftover rice cake
Makes one 8″ cake. You will need a cast iron pan with a lid (doesn’t have to match perfectly though)
- about 1 tightly packed cup of rice/risotto
- 2-3 slices of crumby bread that will be your breadcrumbs (can be gluten free)
- 1 egg
- about 3/4c grated strong cheese, like parmesan (I used sheep’s cheese) (halve this amount if using risotto)
- a few Tbs oil
- salt and pepper
- optional: herbs, whatever veges you want (preferably cooked), little cooked beans/lentils… (I used black eyed peas and the rice had some red lentils in)
- about 1/2c grated/sliced melting cheese (I just used cheapo colby, but taleggio would be great if using parmesan…or you could use brie or something)
Intersting rice cake..never had one before but I love the addtion of broccoli. It makes it taste even better!
Have a great week ahead.
F: Broccoli makes everything taste excellent :) Except maybe chocolate. That’s just a bit too weird.
fantastic recipe for leftover redux. i like the noted similarity to a veggie burger — nice tip.
Y: Hehe, that’s because it basically is a lazy solution to veggie burgers! However it’s also a nice, super flavoursome protein-laden carb option!
Great recipe for reusing leftovers! If anyone else has something they can share, we’d love you to share it with us http://bit.ly/LoveYourLeftovers