Risotto al salto or risotto pancakes from the Risotto experts

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This is a little known risotto recipe which is ideal as a tapas style starter. It's also one of the best uses for leftover risotto. Simply put the leftovers in the fridge and in the next day or so make these delicious risotto pancakes known as risotto-al-salto. The "salto" part is Italian for tossed or turned.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes

Cooking Time: 3 minutes

Servings: Four (two per person) starters

Freeze: No

Special Equipment: A frying pan /skillet

Risotto Leftover Notes: These mini pancakes are a truly delicious way to use risotto leftovers. They are so tasty that it's worthwhile making more risotto than you can eat just so that you can cook this dish the next day. Do not ne tempted to freeze the risotto leftovers. We have fully investigated the merits of freezing risotto and it doesn't work.

Almost all risottos, except fish based ones, are excellent for this recipe. We used pea and sweet pepper risotto but Milanese, mushroom and white risottos are excellent alternatives.

This is a very simple recipe but there is one complication to it. The idea is to shallow fry the pancake on one side then flip it and fry it on the other side. A truly professional chef could do this without adding eggs to the mixture and flip the pancake simply by sharply moving the pan. But I guess that you, like me, are not that professional! That's why we add eggs to the mixture. It holds the pancakes together and enables you to turn them using a spatula.

We suggest that you fry just one pancake at first and test out if you can turn it without the pancake breaking up. If it does break up add another egg to the mixture. This will make the mixture look very sloppy but when it is added to the pan the egg will quickly go solid and make it easier to turn the pancake over.

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INGREDIENTS FOR RISOTTO AL SALTO

Leftover risotto	500g / 1lb 2oz
Eggs	4 medium
Olive oil	3 tablespoons

PREPARATION
Add the eggs to the risotto and blend them in with a fork.
Heat the oven to a low heat and place a large plate in it to store the pancakes as they are cooked.

Place the frying pan / skillet on a medium high heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is heated add a heaped tablespoon of the risotto mixture to the pan. Form it into a thin (max 1½ cm / ½in) round pancake in the pan. Fry until the base of the pancake is browned. This take about a minute or so depending on how hot the oil is.

Using a spatula, turn the pancake over and cook for another minute or so until the other side is golden brown. We did one pancake at a time and stored the cooked ones in the low pre-heated oven. You might want to do two at a time but these pancakes are best served only slightly warm rather than hot.

We experimented many times with this recipe to get it perfect and we need to admit to a guilty secret. If you add a blob of sharp tasting jam (damson or blackberry are superb) on top it's absolutely heavenly! Nothing to do with the original risotto al salto recipe we know, but it is so delicious we just had to let you know. Other toppings which we enjoyed include Italian ham and mayonnaise.

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