hi.
hello. hey.
so. i made this rice pudding, then i stood in my kitchen and ate it from the pot with a tiny spoon. a really tiny spoon.
i just stood there and ate half the batch.
i discovered then, that this recipe should just be called The Milk and Stir.
or What To Make When You’re Having a Weird Day and You Need to Eat Something Warm, and Sweet, and Starchy… and You Wish You Could Just Sit Around All Day, But You Can’t…. So You Just Stand in Your Kitchen and Eat This Pudding Like It’s Nobody’s Business… Cause It’s Totally Nobody’s Business.
Ok. The Milk and Stir is catchier.
Have you ever made rice pudding with risotto rice?
It’s luxurious. Risotto (Arborio) rice is different from long grain, white rice. It’s more starchy and cooks into a creamy texture. The cooking method is different too! Instead of simmering rice in water, small amounts of liquid are added too cooking rice. The rice slowly absorbs the liquid as you stand over the stove and stir. Stir Stir Stir… for about fifteen minutes. It’s actually the perfect amount of time to zone out and solve the problems that have caused you to stress out and make rice pudding in the first place… but maybe that’s just me.
I like to cook this rice pudding up into a looser texture by adding more milk. The rice is so starchy that it really thickens, especially when cold.
Oh! This dessert also has brown sugar, cinnamon, allspice, and vanilla bean. It’s sweet, starchy, and the rice has just the slightest toothsome bite.
You best believe I’ve made rice pudding before. If you don’t have Arborio rice, how about Jasmine Rice Pudding or Brown Rice Pudding? I’ve got you covered.
Oh. I almost forgot. I love you. I mean that.
Risotto Rice Pudding with brown sugar and vanilla
makes about 4 cups, and 4 servings.. unless you’re me… then it’s only one serving.
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cup Arborio rice
3 1/2 to 4 cups milk (I used 2%milk)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
large pinch allspice
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (we use the seeds only for this dish) (or 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract)
blackberries (or any berries) for topping
In a medium saucepan, over low heat, scald 4 cups of milk. Bring the milk to just under boiling, turn off the flame and let it rest.
In a large saucepan, over low heat, melt the butter. Add the rice grains and stir to coat. Ladle in just enough hot milk to cover the rice. Stir (with an awesome wooden spoon, if you have one) over the low flame. The rice will begin to absorb the milk. When the milk is almost fully absorbed, ladle in more hot milk. Stir until absorbed. Continue this process, standing over the stove, stirring milky rice. Taste the rice as you near the end of the milk. You may only need 3 1/2 cups instead of 4. As you add the last bit of milk, also incorporate the sugar, salt, spices, and scraped vanilla beans. Stir well to combine.
Stir over low heat until the milk is gone and the rice is tender, with just a hint of a toothsome bite. This took me about 15 minutes.
I like this rice pudding slightly loose. If you want it thicker, continue to cook it for a bit longer. Serve warm or cold, with fresh berries or without.
Rice pudding will last, in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days. Good luck with that.
Tonni H
I cooked this today for my rice-pudding-obsessed husband. Can’t wait until he gets home to try. Like others, 15 minutes is not long enough. I knew this going in since risotto is known to take a while with much stirring. The taste is perfect!
Melissa
What a bloody long process! 15 minutes my foot, more like 45 continuous stirring that I just gave up and let the rice be hard. Won’t be trying this receive again
Jesse
This recipe was delicious… Just wanted to follow up with an addition – after the pudding is chilled (Assuming you didn’t devour it all hot,) form it into small patties, dust with corn starch, and pan sear in hot coconut oil. Crunch outside, creamy inside, who could argue with that goodness?
Amy Jeanne Hardesty
I’m going to be the voice of dissent here and say that this recipe didn’t turn out for me AT ALL. I spent at least 30 minutes adding milk and stirring, adding milk and stirring. The rice never cooked completely and I ran out of milk. I tried cooking a little longer to see if the rice would cook more, and ended up with cement! Not to mention the amount of vanilla was overpowering. I had to throw it all away. Waste of good milk. I made Dave Leiberman’s Arborio Rice Pudding from The Food Network and came up with edible rice pudding without all the ridiculous stirring.
Steph
Dear Joy,
I made this rice pudding tonight & it is beautiful. I ate quite a bit while standing at the stove. I also made caramelized figs & topped some of the rice pudding with those.
I solved all my problems while I did the stir stir stir… there’s nothing quite like losing yourself in a pot of creamy goodness.
Anyway… I love you, too & I mean it!
Jen
I tried making this on Sunday and failed miserably! I doubled the recipe since I was making this for a pot luck. Two cups of arborio, 10 cups of scalded milk and three hours of ladling and stirring later my rice still had too much bite! I think my mistake was having the heat on low as the recipe suggested – I think this caused my milk to evaporate before it could be absorbed. I might have just made that up. But I ran out of milk and patience and was too embarrassed to share this with my friends. My husband refused to let me toss it (men! they don’t understand the shame of a failed cooking attempt) and is at this very moment trying to pawn off my undercooked risotto rice pudding to his coworkers! He said if they don’t like it (which they won’t, because who would?!) he’ll say he made it. Right. They’ll believe that.
For those that want to learn from my mistakes – if I ever attempt this again I would keep the heat on medium and not spend so much time stirring. The stirring is to “scrub” the starch off the rice to give the risotto the creamy texture we’ve all come to love and expect. However, after much research it seems you can achieve this creaminess by stirring every once in a while and also swirling the pan occasionally. This is according to Alton Brown and he knows his stuff. Save your arms. And sanity.
Erica
I have to say, I am not a huge rice pudding fan, it has something to do with the texture. Then a few years ago, my sister-in-law’s friend made it and brought it to a BBQ and there was something different about hers. I have asked several times for my sister-in-law to get the recipe but she hasn’t ever come through. The other night when I made risotto I realized that risotto rice pudding is probably what she made and the rich creamy texture was why I liked it. I googled for a recipe and found yours and all I can say is “WOW”! I made a half batch the other night just to make sure I liked it and tonight I am making another batch because I am addicted!