Rice Pudding

Sunday 17th January 2010

I really hated rice pudding, but now, even though I don’t make it for myself, it is quite comforting, and I ate loads, I’m greedy, yes, granted, but it’s actually quite nice really. Again, I wasn’t going to bother to describe this one, but Kristy happened to be here (her washing machine is still burst from the frost so she was just collecting the laundry) and I noticed that she was watching and taking note. And now that I think of it, I do remember some really bad rice pudding disasters that I have made in the past, so, for all you rice pudding lovers and disaster mongers, this is really easy…famous last words – but they are true. I have to say also, that I didn’t make this for myself, but if I’m honest I wouldn’t have thought to make it for the others either (even though Ken loves it), you see I am just not that nice, what it was, was that, there was a pack of out of date whole milk which didn’t sell in the shop that just ‘wanted’ using…..

Rice Pudding

Serves one extremely greedy person, or 2 greedy ones or 4 regulars

Takes 5 minutes to prepare, and a couple of hours to cook

milk, whole is best, x1 litre

cream, optional – for when you are entertaining and want to show off (for the amount of cream used, deduct same quantity of milk)

sugar, white, x2 tbsp

vanilla, extract – good quality, a drop (or do that posh infusing the sugar or milk business with a vanilla pod/seeds which I can’t be fussed with)

rice, pudding rice, I used Aborio which I think is for risotto

butter, to grease the dish

Heat the oven to 190°C (not fan). Grease the dish – mine is 1.5 inches deep, 10 inches long and 5 inches wide, allegedly. Sprinkle the rice over the base. You want it one grain deep. Heat the milk in a pan to nearly boiling, add sugar and vanilla, and stir to dissolve. Pour over rice and put in oven. Bake 20 minutes (or until it gets the brown ‘skin’). Turn the oven down to 125°C for a couple of hours, or until it is thick and creamy.

We had ours after an hour and a half, it was a bit runny (but it is nearly gone, so can’t be that bad!). This is a really cheap pudding – I should make it more often and not just when the milk is out of date!

Ken thinks that I should give all the other milk puddings a shot now, the ones he likes and I don’t! Tapioca (which he calls woogly woogly pudding), Semolina and Bread and Butter Pudding …. Just depends whether there is any more out of date milk I reply… I think we might have some stale bread, and I can’t stand waste, so you know, he just might be in luck….

Amanda Nantgwynfaen

www.organicfarmwales.co.uk