I love the salted milk rice that my grandmother Irene made me on dull days.
In France, however, I ate some very good sweet versions. The one that intrigued me most was served in a Parisian restaurant. However, I had to reconstruct the recipe from scratch, because the one available on the net doesn’t give a good result. Laura Aratuccia helped me and made it sweet for the grandchildren, then turned the measurements over to me.
However, I copied the French in terms of how to serve it: creamy cold milk rice with crunchy puffed rice

Milk Rice

  • Preparation time: 40 minutes
  • Ingredients for 4-6 servings
  • Difficulty: Easy recipe

  • Ingredients
  • 800 ml or 4 cups of whole milk + 1 cup
  • 200 ml or 1 cup of water
  • 400 grams or 2 cups of Arborio rice
  • ½ stick of cinnamon
  • ½ vanilla bean
  • 1 tbs of honey
  • A small piece of lemon zest
  • For the decoration:
  • 25 grams or 2 tbs of sugar
  • 25 grams or 4 tbs of puffed rice
  1. Instructions
  2. In a saucepan, bring the milk and water to the boil with the cinnamon stick, vanilla, lemon zest, and sugar. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally (it cooks in about twenty to twenty-five minutes). The mixture must be similar to an English custard – creamy, but liquid.
  3. If the mixture dries too much, you can add more hot milk (the one in the cup).
  4. Remove the cinnamon, vanilla bean, and lemon zest.
  5. Allow the mixture to cool.
  6. Meanwhile, prepare a caramel with the sugar in a pan. As soon as it is blond, turn off the heat and add the puffed rice. Pour the mixture onto parchment paper, cover it with more parchment paper, and spread it out with a fairly thin rolling pin. Leave to cool.
  7. Pour the milk rice into single-serving bowls and decorate them with the puffed rice brittle.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • The milk must be whole fat. If you use partially skimmed milk, replace the 200 ml of water with 200 ml of milk.
  • It can be decorated with flaked chocolate or chopped hazelnuts, eliminating the crunchy rice crispies. If you do this, however, it would be better to slightly increase the amount of honey used.