Creamy rice pudding

“Arroz con leche” is a creamy and sweet rice dessert served in households all over Spain (and other Latin countries). To give it some special flavor, in Spain they usually add lemon peal and cinnamon.

Every family has their own “arroz con leche” recipe. I’ll share with you my Spanish grandma’s recipe, that is known as the very best in my husband’s family. It is usually served cold with cinnamon or a caramelized sugar crust on top of it….and yes, it is very tasty

Yield: 20 portions of “arroz con leche”

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of cold water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• peel of one lemon – just the yellow part
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 250g of medium grain rice (“arroz redondo” or “round rice”)
• 3l of milk
• 250-300g of sugar

• Pour the water in a large pot and bring it to a boil. Add the lemon peel, the cinnamon stick in pieces and the salt.

• When it starts to boil, add the rice. Meanwhile, in another pot, warm up the milk.

• Gradually add the milk to the rice mixture, stirring constantly.

• Keep stirring for around 1 hour until the mixture is thick and creamy.
• At the end, add sugar and let it boil while you keep stirring the pudding for another 15min.
• Once ready, you can pour the rice pudding into serving bowls. I’ve served the pudding with cinnamon on top, but in the region of Asturias in Northern Spain (where my husband’s family comes from), this dish is served with a crust of caramelized sugar on top.

Enjoy!