Il Riso di Giovedi’ Sera {Thursday Night Rice}
I’m so excited to share this recipe with you! It was one of my most favorite things I ate while I was in Italy earlier this year. Okay … before we get started I’m going to confess that’s not really the name of the recipe but I truly can’t remember the actual name of this oh so ah-mazing dish, but trust me it’s dee-lish. So, it’s aptly named “Thursday night rice” because, gasp, I ate it on Thursday night. I’m not complicated people! LOL
I know you’re wondering, “How can she not remember the name?” To be honest, I normally have amazing memory (ask my friends they’ll tell ya it’s scary the things I remember) BUT when I’m in Italy, I am no longer Paula. I’m Paola tee hee & I am all consumed with taking as much as possible in.
Much to my dismay my visits always go by much too quickly & I want to cram in as much as possible before it’s time for me to get back into that metal bird and fly home again. I seriously barely take any pictures (I know, crazy right) or sleep for that matter! Much too busy for that LOL!
Okay back to the story…focus Paula LOL… See what happens when I start thinking or talking about Italy!…It was obviously Thursday night & in this quaint & cozy little ristorante. The waitress recommend the house dish & went on to tell us the story behind it. She said is was originally a peasant dish created with leftover Risotto and leftover Macaroni. They, like many of us do, believed in not wasting any food. They combined the previous night’s leftover food and then pan sauteed it in a pat of butter carefully forming it into a disk shape. It was served with a piece of Pancetta on top & was delightful! I’m so happy that she recommended it. It was so crispy on the outside & amazing CREAMY on the inside. It was like magic! So naturally I had to try and re-create this dish!
Because there’s normally not any leftover Risotto in my house, I purposefully had to make an extra helping and set it aside before it could be devoured by my fam. The next day I threw in some left over cooked elbow noodles and began to recreate one of my most favorite dishes I had on this trip. The shaping of the disk was a little tricky. LEAVE it alone and let it get nice & crisp before you try to flip (if you happen to flip too early & it falls apart, just re-shape it with your spatula & try again).
With my head buzzing with sweet memories of my bell’Italia I sat down & YES it tasted just as I had remembered! Be sure to to let it cool before you dig in. YES, I dived in way too soon & burnt my tongue, but who could blame me.
I so love Italian food! Can you tell?
What you’ll need:
Leftover Risotto
1/2 cup of Leftover Macaroni (any small pasta like elbow, etc.)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4 slices of Pancetta (or bacon)
What to do:
Take your leftover macaroni and add to it the leftover risotto. Mix together with a spoon. Into your saute pan add your butter and heat over high heat. When the pan is hot add about a 3/4 cup of the risotto/macaroni mixture. Press mixture down with your spatula until it forms a disk. You’ll want it to be about 1/2″ thick. Cook over medium-high heat until a nice crust develops on the bottom. Flipping only once! When the crust forms flip the risotto mixture and cook through until nice & golden brown on both sides. This will take approximately 4-5 minutes on each side. Set aside to cool & continue cooking the remainder of your rice (adding more butter to pan if necessary). While the risotto is cooking cook your pancetta slices (or bacon) in a pan until crispy. Prior to serving place a piece of pancetta on top of your risotto cake (that is unless you’ve eaten all of it before the risotto is ready to be served, hence why there’s no pancetta on my pics LOL)!
Buon Appetito!
Goes great with:
A glass of Wine!
If you liked this post, and I know you did tee hee, come on & share the love, we’ve made it super easy, the buttons are right below! Mwah!
Hmmm…this looks amazing!!! Thanks for sharing!
this looks so DELISH! mmmmmmmmmmmmm
Paola cara, it’s called “riso al salto”, as in jumping risotto, because you “jump” the risotto in the pan reheating it!
ENJOY!
B.
Ah Evviva! Un bacione Benedetta! Grazie’ mille, non potevo ricordare per niente!
Ciao bella! Thanks so much! It’s so amazing! I can’t get over the creaminess inside & the crunch outside!
Thanks Sue! It was simply scrumptious!
This looks delicious!!
Thanks so much Stephanie! I might just have to whip up some Risotto today to make it again. So good!
Those look so amazing! Thanks for sharing! (And I love your photos they are beautiful!)
Ah thanks Crystal! I really appreciate those sweet words!
We love Risotto al Salto but I have never seen it made with pasta before. Very interesting, will have to try.
Ciao Deb! It was so good! Seriously one of my favorites from the trip! So good & very filling!
Love the crispy crustiness of the outside of this dish and soft creaminess on the inside. One must suspend calorie counting for this meal but it looks well-worth the splurge.
Thanks Joan! It really is a special treat! Calorie counting? What’s that… tee hee?
Hi
it looks great and i have to try this one day.
I have a questions for you is, hehe do you have a good recipe on risotto?
I have tryed to make this but i haven`t got a good one . I hope you maybe can help me
Great blogg you have and thanks for shering with us
Greatings from Karin.
Ciao Karin! Thanks! Of course I do, here is the link to my basic risotto recipe http://www.bellalimento.com/2009/01/11/risotto
can you believe I have never made risotto………but I will surely pop over to check out your basic recipe.
Paola………..how does one jump risotto?
great blog and super photos btw
Ciao Doodles! Thanks so much! I really appreciate that. & you most certainly have to try Risotto! Once you have the basic recipe down there are limitless possibilities. I believe the term refers to the risotto that are jumping/sizzling if you will when you are pan sauteing them. I would also say that mine certainly jump from the plate into my mouth LOL! Nothing quite like Risotto. It’s simply delizioso!
Hey Paula! Thanks so much for the request on Tasty Kitchen! I am LOVING your blog! This recipe looks scrumptious and I think the kids will love it! Looking forward to looking over the older posts!
Nana
Ciao Nana! Ah, thanks so much! It really is scrumptious & my kids loved it as well! They called them risotto cakes - so cute!
Its called Arincini or Suppli…for Arancini you take a small chunk of Mozarella cheese and make a ball with leftover Risotto, run this through bread crumbs and either fry it, pan-fry it or bake it
Awesome recipe!!
Sounds good!
MHMMMM favoloso questo riso del giovedì sera, credo che sia buonissimo, forse ho assaggiato anche io a Milano, forse era un ristorante ai Navigli?
Molti complimenti per il tuo lavoro…
ps.: se vieni ancora in Italia è possibile vederti e conoscerti ? Adoro cucinare.
Caro Angelo, Si’ certo sei hai voglia…ma devo dirti che sono proprio una culona
(beh almeno c’e un amico Italiano molto famoso che mi dice questo sempre) Un bacio…
that looks ridiculously good! i’m gonna have to try it
Thanks so much Leigh Anne! It’s one of my favs! (although I do have a lot of favs LOL It’s simply too hard to pick just one)
Thanks Jen! It’s tasty & oh so filling! I hope you’ll give it a try!
Love it! It looks so yummy.
Ah, thanks Wendy! Mwah!
[...] Take 2 Dish: Il Riso di Giovedi’ Sera (Thursday Night Rice) From Bell’alimento [...]
Trying to figure out what to make for my Mom this weekend and I want this now. It’s Thursday! Will try this out this weekend…never have leftover risotto so I am glad to know we aren’t alone in that.
Thanks Rhonda! I know, I HAVE to make extra if I want leftovers & have to put it the fridge immediately LOL
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