Thursday Recipe

Mmmmm, rice pudding. One of my memories of growing up is visiting my great-grandmother. She would make rice pudding and it was so delicious warm out of the oven with a sprinkling of cinnamon on top. It was simple - no added fruit or anything, just the rice pudding. I saw this recipe from the Neelys recently and it comes pretty close to Ma's. I would actually probably make it without the banana topping, but I;m including it here in case you are so inclined.

Ingredients

• 5 cups whole milk
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Caramelized Banana Topping:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 ripe but firm medium bananas, sliced

Directions

Into a large saucepan, mix together milk, rice, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, allspice and salt over medium-high heat. Let simmer for 45 minutes, stirring frequently and being careful not to scorch the milk. Once rice is tender and pudding has thickened turn off heat and remove the vanilla bean.

In a heavy skillet, melt butter and add brown sugar over low heat. Stir to melt the sugar. Add sliced bananas and continue to saute until they are soft and covered with the sugar and butter mixture.

Spoon pudding to serving bowls and top with the warm banana topping.