IN GOOD COMPANY RICE PUDDING

Ingredientes

2 cups (400 g) arborio rice

8 cups (2 litres) full-cream milk

1½ cup (110 g) caster (superfine) sugar

1 vanilla bean, split lengthways

Cold, cubed butter, to serve

Cinnamon sugar 1/2 cup (110 g) caster (superfine) sugar

¼ tsp ground cinnamon, or to taste

Instruções

Put the rice in a large saucepan and add ¾ cup (185 ml) water. Bring to the boil, stirring often so the rice doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan, then cook for 2 minutes. Add the milk and sugar, scrape in the vanilla seeds and add the pod. Stir well and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 35-40 minutes or until the rice is cooked through.

For the cinnamon sugar, mix together the sugar and cinnamon (add some more cinnamon if you like it stronger).

Remove the rice from the heat and serve warm with a knob of butter and a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar.

NOTE

The rice pudding is also lovely served cold with poached fruit or a dollop of the apricot purée from page 19. You'll find that it firms up on cooling - I generally add 1 cup (250 ml) of milk (or cream if I'm feeling indulgent) to loosen it up before reheating or serving chilled.

Notas

This would have to be my favourite recipe in the whole book. Apart from its deliciousness, it's because of the role it plays in our family playbook of rituals. Inspired by my Danish grandfather's own family traditions, every Christmas Eve we commence the meal with a small bowl of rice pudding (risengrod) topped with a cube of butter and a good sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. A blanched almond is hidden in one of the bowls and the person who finds it must hide that fact until the end of the meal. If they succeed in keeping it hidden, they get a little gift - usually a box of choccies. The excitement over who would get the almond every year always ran high when we were kids and now I see my kids and their cousins enjoying the whole game just as much. Rice pudding also happens to be one of my kids' favourite comfort foods: They especially love it cold for lunches. Me too.