Vegetarian Vuelta a España: Artichoke Rice Cakes with Manchego

Continuing on through the Vegetarian Vuelta a España we get to one of my favorite subjects - Cheese! Manchego is a grassy, crumbly sheep cheese produced in the La Mancha region of Spain. Spaniards don't mess around with the production of this cheese outlining particular qualities for a cheese to be designated as manchego.

These qualities include the cheese being produced in a particular region, it can only be made from a specific breed of sheep raised on registered farms in this specific region, the cheese must be aged for at least 60 days and it must be produced in a cylindrical mold to very particular height and diameter specifications.

Well, with all this work to identify and produce manchego cheese, we must appreciate its grassy and tart flavor with a great recipe - and this is it.

I quickly discovered that even before forming the rice into little cake, the rice mixture itself was so good that I feared we ate too much of it to make it to the frying stage. All you need to do is throw some shaved manchego on top of the prepped rice and you're good to go for an amazing side dish. But, where's the fun in that? Push your sleeves up, dig in, and get your hands gloopy making these rice cakes. Fry them up and enjoy. I did discover that if you place them in the pan and press them with your spatula, the cakes have a tendency to break apart. So, resist the urge to squish.

Finally, the original recipe calls for a fresh artichoke, but long-time readers and friends know me...I get into the kitchen and the less to fuss with the better. Find good quality jarred/canned artichoke hearts in water and you've saved yourself some time and that pesky fuss.

Enjoy the manchego! Recipe and details on Veggin'...