Shaker Gourmet: Rhubarb-Raspberry Rice Pudding

The recipe this week comes to us from Shaker Lauredhel!

Rhubarb-Raspberry Rice Pudding
Ingredients

1 cup arborio (short-grain) "risotto" rice
4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar (caster/superfine). You can push this down to a quarter cup if you prefer a less sweet pudding.
1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (sub in vanilla extract if you absolutely must, but it's nowhere near as good).

Fresh rhubarb (a couple of cups, or whatever you've got)
3/4 cup sugar (caster/superfine)
1 cup water
Juice of half a lime. Make a gin & tonic with the other half.

Raspberries

Optional: cream; cinnamon or nutmeg

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Methods

1. The rice pudding part

Mix the rice with the milk (I used skim milk with two teaspoons of butter, or just use full cream).

Add the 1/2 cup sugar and the vanilla bean paste and stir. Other spices are optional; some people might like cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Simmer the rice mix very very gently, stirring frequently and watching very carefully - it has a tendency to suddenly make a break for it and boil over. Simmer it down till it's a nicely slushy almost-risotto texture, not too gluggy. Add more milk if necessary. This might take 25-40 minutes, give or take. Go by texture, not time.

2. The rhubarb topping

While you're cooking the rice, gently poach short segments of rhubarb in a mixture of 3/4 cup caster sugar, 1 cup water, and the lime juice. You can add finely minced lime zest too, if you like. I added a smidge of vanilla bean paste to this too.

When the rhubarb just softens but isn't falling apart (5-10 minutes), lift it out with a slotted spoon and set it aside.

Reduce the liquid right down to syrup - again being careful of it bubbling up and leaping, it'll make a mess of your stovetop. It needs to be reduced until a drop dropped into a cup of ice cold water balls up into a soft malleable globule.

Set the syrup aside.

3. Combining

Combine your rice pudding with the reserved poached rhubarb and some frozen or fresh raspberries, either mixing or layering. This can be prepped ahead of time and stored covered in the fridge for a day or two.

If you have children at school, make up a couple of these in teeny Tupperware type containers for the lunchbox. They also freeze quite well.

Reheat in a moderate oven until hot through.If you really want to indulge, pour some cream over the top before reheating.

Serve with the warmed rhubarb-lime syrup poured over the top.

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