Creamy Dreamy

As I was sitting in my house almost freezing to death, I decided to make some rice pudding to warm up. It is one of those "comfort foods" that I don't make very often, but absolutely love! I used Arborio rice, which is a rice named after the town of Arborio in the Po Valley of Italy, where it is grown. It is a short-grained rice, typically used to make risotto (which I'm not a big fan of). This rice has a higher starch content than white rice, which causes the pudding to have a creamier consistency. Yum! There are so many ways to make rice pudding. There are traditional recipes with cinnamon and raisins, and there are more unique recipes which include fruit such as peaches, oranges, or dried cranberries. This is one of my favorite recipes for a dairy-free rice pudding, but it can also be made with regular milk. I hope this recipe warms you up!

Creamy Rice Pudding

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked Arborio rice 

4 cups original Almond milk

1/2 cup Demerara cane sugar

1 tsp Madagascar vanilla bean paste (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

pinch of grated orange peel

sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook Arborio rice as directed on package to yield 3 cups. Place cooked rice in large saucepan. Add almond milk, vanilla, and sugar and cook over medium heat until the mixture starts to simmer (about 20 minutes). Allow mixture to simmer over low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Remove from heat and add grated orange peel, cinnamon, and nutmeg to taste. 

3. Serve warm or cold. Can be topped with orange segments if desired.

Alissa's notes: Most of the ingredients in this recipe can be substituted. You can use regular milk or regular sugar. I just wanted to make this version dairy free. If using regular milk, you may find it necessary to add a little more sugar. The pudding will not seem very thick at first, but thickens much more as it cools.