Laurie Colwin's Lemon Rice Pudding

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Ingredients:

Lemon Rice Pudding

Adapted from Laurie Colwin & Jane Grigson. Makes 4 servings of 1/2-cup.

1 medium lemon, preferably Meyer lemon
1/4 cup jasmine rice
2 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Peel the lemon with a vegetable peeler, being careful not to take any of the white pith away with the rind. Cut the peel into fine strips. Mix the peel with the rice, sugar, and salt in a 9-inch pie dish. Stir in the milk and cream.

Bake uncovered for about 2 hours, stirring every 30 to 45 minutes. As the milk reduces, it will form a thin layer on top of the pudding; simply break this up and stir it in.

Final baking time will depend on your oven, the pie dish, and how thick you prefer your rice pudding. When ready, the rice will be completely cooked and tender but the pudding will still be soupy and thin. As it cools, however, it will firm up considerably.

Eat hot, warm, or cold.

Recipe Notes

• Using half-and-half: You can substitute half-and-half for the milk and cream.
• Adjusting the richness: This ratio of milk and cream makes a very rich, thick pudding, especially after it cooks. You can also use whole milk and substitute it for both the milk and cream. This still makes a creamy pudding but it's less rich.
• On Meyer lemons: I have used regular lemons and Meyer lemons in this recipe, and I prefer Meyers because their herbal notes go so well with jasmine rice. Their more delicate rind also seems to give this a nicer texture.

Updated from recipe originally posted November, 2006.

Instructions: