Greeks make a good rice pudding. You may have ordered on at a Greek diner, restaurant or at a bakery. It can be had as part of a breakfast or as a dessert. A couple of days ago I elevated my Dad’s rice pudding recipe by finishing it as if it were a Creme Brulee.
A humble Greek treat gets elevated to a dessert that will impress, let’s make it!
Recipe by Peter MinakiCourse: DessertDifficulty: Easy
Servings
8
servings
Prep time
10
minutes
Cooking time
20
minutes
Ingredients
1 cup of Italian/Arborio rice (or rinsed par-boiled long grain if you want a firmer rice)
3 cups water 4 cups of warm whole (full fat) milk 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter 3/4 cup granulated sugar pinch of salt 3 strips of lemon peel 1 large cinnamon stick, broken in two 2 tsp. of vanilla extract 1/4 cup corn starch diluted in 1/4 cup cold milk
Granulated or coarse white sugar for bruleeing the top
Directions
Add your water to a medium pot, bring to a boil. Add your rice and once your water returns to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for about 16-18 minutes (depending on how soft you like your rice).
Add your milk, butter, sugar, salt, lemon peel, cinnamon and vanilla and over medium heat bring up to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cook for another 10 minutes, constantly stirring to ensure rice doesn’t stick to the bottom.
Mix your corn starch and milk slurry and stir into rice pudding. Simmer while stirring for another 5 minutes, take off the heat. Remove lemon peel and cinnamon sticks, transfer rice pudding to bowls/ramekins.
Once cooled, place in the fridge to cool minimum two hours.
When ready to serve, take out of the fridge, sprinkle about a tbsp of sugar over each serving and use your torch to brown the top to a nice deep gold colour. Allow to set for a 5 minutes and serve.
Recipe Video
Notes
To Brulee the tops, only use granulated or coarse white sugar for best results.
Hi Peter
This looks delicious!!
If I need to make it with plant based milk, do you think there is one that might lend itself as a substitute for regular fat milk? And would EVOO work in place of the butter? Or would it be better to omit that fat?
Thank you so much !
Excited for this recipe- Cathy
While your daily tasks are different from that generation, you’re busy and one pot cooking is going to help you in the kitchen! Read book details. Barnes & Noble book purchases here.
2 Responses
Hi Peter
This looks delicious!!
If I need to make it with plant based milk, do you think there is one that might lend itself as a substitute for regular fat milk? And would EVOO work in place of the butter? Or would it be better to omit that fat?
Thank you so much !
Excited for this recipe- Cathy
Cathy, no.