People often wonder what to do with leftover risotto. I’ll write a post in the future outlining all of my ideas for leftover risotto. This one is too good to wait. I love to stuff vegetables with rice, beans, pasta, etc. I had the idea to create a fun, appetizer that uses leftover rice in an unconventional way. My experiment resulted in what I’m calling Italian Sushi.

I started with vegetables that I could slice into long strips. I opted for eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash. I sliced them thin, brushed them with a little bit of olive oil, and roasted them slowly in the oven at a fairly low heat. Then I rolled them up with leftover risotto.

I garnished them in fun ways, and arranged them on a serving plate.

The result was delicious, and looked very pretty on the plate.

Try my Italian Sushi next time you have a dinner party. It’s a perfect size for an appetizer, and it looks very impressive.

Italian Sushi

Italian Sushi

Donna
A fun appetizer that uses letover risotto wrapped in vegetables.
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Appetizer, Small Plate
Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Ingredients
  

  • 1 eggplant
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp parmesan or romano cheese
  • 2 fresh mozzarella balls sliced
  • 1/2 cup risotto

Instructions
 

  • Preheat over to 350 degrees F.
  • Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or foil. Spray lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
  • Slice eggplant, zucchini, and yellow squash lengthwise into 1/8-inch strips.
  • Brush both sides lightly with olive oil. Arrange on baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt.
  • Bake in oven for about 30 minutes, until vegetables are softened and cooked through, careful not to brown or caramelize.
  • Remove from oven, and allow to cool slightly so that you can handle them.
  • Sprinkle the zucchini and squash slices with grated parmesan or romano cheese. Place a spoonful of risotto in the center of each slice, and roll up.
  • Place mozzarella slices on eggplant slices, add a big spoonful of risotto in the center, and roll up.
  • Arrange sushi on a serving plate. Garnish each in various ways. Watch the video to see how I garnished each piece of sushi in different ways.

Video

Notes

This is a great way to use up leftover risotto.
For the garnish, I used the following:
- Eggplant Sushi: wrapped with carrot slivers.
- Zucchini Sushi: topped with half of a cherry tomato
- Squash Sushi: topped with cooked shrimp
Keyword risotto, sushi, vegetarian

close-up of Zucchini Sushi with cherry tomato

close-up of Squash Sushi with shrimp

Italian Sushi