Spanish Rice Pudding Easy Recipe
Spanish Rice Pudding Easy Recipe - Arroz con Leche. You will find this all over Spain and it is often found on the Menu of the Day, Menu del dia. In England, we traditionally bake rice pudding in the oven, but, in Spain, they cook their arroz con leche in a saucepan on the hob. The result is a lovely creamy pudding. The Spanish also make the most of citrus fruits and add orange or lemon peel into the mixture this adds a wonderful fruity flavour. They don’t use just the zest, but the whole peel … removing it prior to serving.
Ingredients – for 4 people
1 litre milk
150 gr short/medium grained, pudding rice
125 gr sugar (or more/less to taste)
1/2 stick cinnamon
Peel of lemon/orange (ie a thick strip of the skin)
Powdered cinnamon
Method
Rinse the rice in some water to remove some of the starchiness (the water should start a little cloudy then clear up)
Add milk, cinnamon stick and orange/lemon peel to saucepan.
Gently bring to the boil.
Lower heat and gradually stir in rice.
Simmer for 20 minutes
Mix in sugar.
Simmer a further 15 minutes – stirring – until creamy, Continue to stir so the milk doesn´t froth and create a film
Remove lemon/orange peel and cinnamon stick.
Pour into individual dishes.
Sprinkle with powdered cinnamon and serve.
For a real treat mix in a little orange liqueur and/or sultanas/dried fruit at the end.
Tips
Use a medium grain rice – it will give a better texture to the end dessert.
Stir the mixture regularly as it cooks to avoid it burning on the bottom of the pan.
Don’t rush it – cook over a medium-low heat to avoid the milk boiling and potentially curdling.
Try to avoid getting too much milk up the side of the pan as it can burn and/or cause a skin to form (which you don’t want to stir back in).
The mixture should be slightly thicker than you want it before you add the sugar – the sugar makes it more fluid.
If you want to make a larger quantity, multiply everything up but you don’t need an additional cinnamon stick if you are just making double. If more than that you may want a second one.
Serve HOT or COLD?
You will find this dish served both warm and chilled so enjoy as you prefer. What can work well is to make a slightly larger batch, have it warm when you make it then serve the rest cold a day or two later.
If you want to serve it cold, allow the rice mixture to cool down in the serving dish for 20 minutes, then refrigerate at least 1 hour.
You can reheat it, but take care to reheat it properly. Rice is particularly prone to develop bacteria.
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