Portuguese Rice Pudding

[Guest guest]

PORTUGUESE RICE PUDDING

 

1/2 cup short round rice, such as paella rice or risotto rice (Arborio)

3 to 3 1/2 cups milk

2 sticks cinnamon

grated zest of 2 lemons

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon plus more for garnish

 

Wash and drain the rice. Place it in a large saucepan with plenty of water to

cover. Stir, and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes, to blanch

the rice. Drain the rice in a colander, rinse with warm water, drain again and

set aside.

 

While the rice is cooking, place 3 cups of milk in a medium heavy-bottomed

saucepan, add the cinnamon sticks, lemon zest and salt. Bring the mixture to a

simmer over medium heat. Turn off the heat and let the milk infuse until the

rice is ready.

 

Place the rice in another medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, and ladle in 1 cup

of the warm milk. Stir well with a wooden spoon, then turn on the lowest

possible heat and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the milk is

absorbed. Ladle in another 1/2 cup of the warm milk, stir and cook until

absorbed. Continue in this manner until you have used up all the milk (remove

and discard the cinnamon sticks). Along with the last 1/2 cup of the milk, stir

in the sugar, butter and ground cinnamon. When the last addition of the milk has

been absorbed, turn off the heat and evaluate the consistency against your

personal rice pudding preferences, bearing in mind it will be thicker when

chilled. Add an additional 1/4 cup to 1 cup of milk (cold is fine) as desired.

 

Turn the pudding out into a medium serving dish or divide between six

individual serving dishes and decorate the top with ground cinnamon.