New Recipe: Recipe for Rice pudding with blood orange and spiced honey

OWhen it comes to rice, it’s important to add as much cream or milk as needed to achieve the desired texture. It shouldn’t be boring. The syrup is also wonderful on ice cream.

Schedule

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 1h15

Serves

Six

Ingredients

For the pudding

• 1 liter of whole milk
• 30g caster sugar
• 3 wide strips of zest from 1 blood orange
• 175g rice pudding
• ½ tbsp lemon juice
• 50-100 ml fresh cream
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water
• Chopped pistachios, for serving (optional)

For the sauce and the oranges

• 250ml blood orange juice, plus eight whole blood oranges
• 7 tablespoons runny honey
• 40g caster sugar
• Ground seeds of 8 cardamom pods
• The zest of 1 blood orange (removed with a zester)

Method

1. Put the milk in a saucepan with the sugar and the strips of zest. Bring to a boil then remove the pan from the heat. Leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
2. Put the rice in a heavy bottomed saucepan and add the milk. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook gently for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Make sure it doesn’t overflow.
3. Leave to cool, then add the lemon juice and as much cream as needed to obtain the desired consistency. If it seems too thick, add more milk. If you keep it in the refrigerator, adjust the texture when it comes out because the cold will cause it to freeze.
4. Flavor the rice with orange blossom water and enjoy. It should be lightly scented – floral water brands vary in strength, so be careful.
5. For the sauce, put all but the whole blood oranges in a saucepan with 50ml water and slowly bring to the boil, stirring. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. You should have about 175ml of liquid. Remove from fire. You can strain it through a sieve, but I like to have the seeds and zest in it. It will thicken as it cools.
6. Slice top and bottom of each orange so they are flat. Using a sharp knife, remove the zest and pith into strips, cutting from top to bottom and working around each orange. Slice the flesh. Set aside any slices that aren’t perfect (you can eat them, but the pudding ones should be crisp). Collect the juice that comes out as you cut the flesh into a bowl. Add the slices.
7. Serve the rice at room temperature with slices of orange (and the juice that clings to it) and a little syrup. The syrup is intense so you don’t need much, but offer what’s left on the table. Scatter pistachios over each serving, if desired.