Ingredient of the Week

Rice pudding

I’ve made another comforting Autumnal dessert this week and much like last week’s apple crumble, rice pudding is a dish that transports me right back to childhood.

I always loved rice pudding as a child but when asking friends about their rice pudding memories, most of them immediately mentioned school dinners and made a face that told me the memory was not an altogether happy one.

As a result many people just won’t give it another try – if you have the same feelings I urge you to give it one more chance. The reason I’m confident of winning over a few converts with this recipe is that rather than baking the pudding, I’m cooking it on the stove in a way very similar to making a risotto.

By using arborio rice as opposed to traditional short grain pudding rice, the dessert still has a bite to it unlike the school offerings in the past.

The next difference is that by not baking the rice and milk, the finished rice pudding has no ‘skin’ and this I found was the other main thing people really disliked. The ‘skin’ is formed when proteins in the milk coagulate on the surface as the water evaporates. I always liked the skin, but I realise I won’t change minds by explaining how it got there.

We now have an updated version of a classic pudding so I can’t just dollop some jam on top which always seemed to be the way I remember it, so I’ve finished with some tea-soaked fruits and syrup.

This combination of flavours and textures really work well together and are miles away from school dinners of old. Enjoy.