Creamy Rice Pudding Recipe

Remember when I said in my last post that I felt guilty about buying certain foods that I knew I could prepare myself?  That guilt propelled me into making one of them. It helps that it only requires 3 ingredients. Yes, you heard me correctly, just 3 ingredients that most people will have in their kitchens anyways.

This recipe for rice pudding seems crazy.  You only use 1 cup of long-grain white rice for 2 litres of milk. The trick is that you add the milk in stages, much like risotto, and the rice just keeps getting bigger and bigger. The first time I made it I had to call my Grandma Strom and ask her if I had copied the recipe down incorrectly, it seemed impossible.  But, my terrible handwriting, while nearly illegible, was accurate.

Creamy Rice Pudding

1 cup long grain white rice - I use Thai Jasmine rice as it's my favourite and I always have it in the house.

2 litres of homogenized milk

1/2 cup of sweetener - I like to use local honey, but you can also use white sugar.

Optional additions: If you have them in the house, feel free to add 1 stick of cinnamon when you begin to add the milk. You can also add 1-2 tsps. of pure vanilla extract for additional flavour.

Rinse and drain rice until the water runs clear.  In a thick bottom pot combine rice and just enough water to cover the rice.  Bring to a boil and cook until the water is absorbed.  Add 1 litre of milk.  Let simmer until milk is almost absorbed, then add the remainder of the milk.  Stir frequently.  The longer it cooks, the more milk will be needed.  In the last half hour of cooking (you'll have to guess at this point, who knows when it's the last half hour of cooking until it's the end of cooking?!) add the sugar and continue to stir.  Remember that it will thicken as it cools.  I like to put mine into individual size Tupperware containers and store in the fridge for my kids to grab when they need a snack.  The pudding also freezes well.