Until Easter this year I’d never cooked a rice pudding. We were staying with friends and the lady of the house asked me to make a rice pud to serve up with Sunday lunch. No presure! Luckily she has a well stocked shelf of cookery books and together with the instructions on the back of the packet, I put this together and it has now become Mr T’s favourite Sunday teatime treat. The original was from Delia’s How to Cook but I failed to copy it down, so I had to cobble this together on our return. I think Delia had it from an old Eliza Acton recipe.
Using the quantities on the back of the rice pudding packet, simply warm the milk in a pan, add the rice and allow to come to simmer for 10 mins, add sugar to taste and a knob of butter. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Add 2 beaten eggs and pour into a shallow oven proof dish. Top with grated nutmeg (or for a different flavour, stir in 1 tablespoon vanilla paste with the milk and skip the nutmeg). Bake as directed on the packet, but it will need a few mins less than the packet says. Start checking after 40 mins and if needed turn the heat down low. We like ours with home made jam and there are never leftovers!
Tracey Todhunter 