Havarti Risotto Balls

This is a tasty appetizer. Risotto is an Italian rice dish made with broth and simmered to a creamy consistency. A cheese cube is being placed inside a risotto ball, then deep-fried. I am using Havarti, but you can use any semi-hard or hard cheese of your choice. This appetizer presents nicely and goes perfectly well with a light white wine.

Try it out with your homemade cheese!

Check out our post on How to Make Cheese at Home to learn the art of making cheese. It’s a fun project for everyone.
For easy homemade cheese recipes check out our Cheese Making Recipes page.

If you are interested in the world of cheese making, visit our cheese Resource page and our How Cheese is Made post.

We review and suggest Cheese Making Kits here if you would like to get started with making cheese.

Enjoy!!!

havarti Risotto Balls

Makes 18 balls, about 6 servings.
Preparation time about 20 minutes

Tools needed:

Medium pot or deep fryer
Medium pot
Sharp knife and cutting board

Ingredients:

1 cup risotto rice
½ cup grated Havarti
18 cubes of Havarti, about 1 cm/ ½ inch in size
1 tbsp butter or margarine
3 tbsp mixed dried herbs (like parsley, sage)
2 cups of frying oil
1 cube of vegetable bouillon or broth dissolved in 2 cups of cold water
½ cup of white wine

Procedure:

Prepare the risotto rice either by following the instructions on the package or as follows:

Melt the butter in a medium pot, add the risotto and fry on medium heat until the rice becomes glassy looking.
Add the white wine, and simmer until the wine is soaked up by the rice.
Slowly add the vegetable bouillon water. Only add as much so the rice is covered, let simmer until the water is soaked up by the rice, then add more water. Let simmer until the risotto is creamy.
Let cool for 10 minutes.
Mix the grated cheese and the dried herbs into the risotto.
With your hands form balls with the risotto, place on a plate.
Press the Havarti cubes inside the balls, one cube per rice ball.
Heat the frying oil in a pot to 160 C/ 320 F.
Add the risotto balls and fry for 2 minutes. Don’t crowd the pot with the balls, it will reduce the oil temperature too much.
Increase the oil temperature to 200 C/ 292 F and fry the balls for 1 more minute until they turn golden brown.
Place the balls on a paper towel to dry.
Serve with garden salad, add spinach or kale.