Arborio Raisin Rice Pudding

Now that fall is officially here and the air is cool and crisp outside, inside I'm thinking more and more about comfort foods. Is there anything more comforting then a bowl of old fashioned rice pudding? It's simple, straight forward, nothing pretentious, in fact it's quite economical!

There are so many variations using different ingredients such as butter, egg yolks and cream. Different techniques in cooking it, baked, stove top, and even some crock pot recipes. Fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, raisins, coconut, and some even spiked with liqueur, just to name a few.

In my house it's golden raisins with cinnamon and vanilla, although I have been known to spike it with some Amaretto at times, (so good!) I don't use cream or egg yolks or butter, because frankly we don't need it, and believe me you won't miss it.

Here's the recipe!

3Cups Water
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Cup Arborio Rice
4 Cups of Milk ( I used 2%)
1/3 Cup of Sugar
2 t. Real Vanilla
Golden Raisins and Cinnamon ( I didn't measure)

Precook your rice in water for 10 minutes, drain. In a pan combine cooked rice, milk and sugar, and cook on a medium heat stirring often for about 35 minutes. When finished, stir in your raisins, cinnamon and vanilla. If you're going to refrigerate your pudding at this point, place your plastic wrap right on top of the pudding so no skin forms on top.

I had so much success with oven drying tomatoes, that I thought I'd give it a try with some apples and pears. It took a lot less time and the result was great, and even 2 weeks later they were still moist and chewy! Make sure to store them in an airtight container.

I used a mandolin for slicing my up my fruit which I then placed single layer on a baking sheet topped with parchment paper. They took about 3 hours to dry in a 225F oven. I sprinkled cinnamon sugar on mine before baking, but you don't have to.

Scenes from a pumpkin farm we went to over the weekend, don't you just love fall, it's my favorite season.

Buon Appetito!