Repurposing Food: Turning a Side Dish Into a Chic Appetizer -- "Faux"-sotto Balls

Everyone raves about risotto balls, also known as arancini, as seriously one of the best appetizers they've consumed....I'll take them up on that challenge! And while we all know that I am not the biggest fan of fincky risotto, I am obsessed with it's faux counterpart, farro. I recently featured two farro dishes last time:

• Paella (with the recipe included) 
• Mushroom faux-sotto (where I just listed out the ingredients)

But then I had a stroke of genius (before my morning coffee too!) By using leftover mushroom farro risotto, some breadcrumbs and goat cheese, I'll be turning this three-day old side dish, into an impressively, delicate and delectable appetizer! Great for a spontaneous dinner party or guests that spring up at your home without a moments notice. Go ahead, blow their freakin' socks/tights/leggings/keds off with this one!

Ready for some serious magic?! Yeah that's right Harry Potter, step aside, being resourceful here! (Bet you cant even make faux-sotto balls!)

Okay, so here's how the recipe goes...this is going to be pretty informal (not as detailed as my other posts), but certainly thorough. Serve this as an appetizer with a marinara dipping sauce or pesto sauce. Also, it serves well on its own with a side salad, as I've prepared below!

Leftover Mushroom Farro Risotto Balls

Kneading Sass original

Ingredients:

• 1 cup leftover farro risotto 
• 3/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs (half used in risotto, the other for breading)
• 1 Tbl soft goat cheese or mozzarella cheese (cubed) 
• Italian seasoning to taste
• Vegetable oil

Directions: 

Going with step-by-step photos here!

Farro risotto ball assembly line. In no particular order. Added Italian seasoning to my plain Panko breadcrumbs here. 

Get your hands dirty! Mixing it all together in one tupperware makes this easy and efficent. Remember use only half of the Panko breadcrumbs here, the other half will be saved for the outer breading!

Just in case you were wondering...this is my favorite goat cheese! Using cheese instead of eggs as a binding agent allows the farro to sick together when frying. 

I used a teaspoon to help me form these balls into the right size. Don't be afraid to mold these in your hands into a tight ball...the tighter the more it will stay together when cooking!

Using the reserved Panko breadcrumbs, liberally bread these bad boys!

Over medium heat, add about 1 1/2 inches of vegetable or safflower oil. Once oil is hot, gently place farro balls into hot oil. Turn after 2 minutes to get these nice and crispy. 

The final product: Almost perfectly round? Remember farro is significantly less starchy, and thus less robust, than rice. The chances of these breaking apart in the hot oil are higher than usual, so be gentle with these. 

Changing the name of these from faux-sotto balls to AMAZEballs! Made this into a meal with a heaping side of salad :)