Rice pudding (arroz con leche) with dulce de leche

‘Arroz con leche’ is a popular children’s treat in Argentina and traditionally it might have been something waiting for you when you arrived home from school. It’s a cheap meal to prepare and like many Argentine dishes it can feed many.

Credit: Rachel Tolosa Paz

• serves

  8

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 220 g (8 oz/1 cup) carnaroli or aborio rice
• 2 strips lemon peel
• 1 cinnamon stick
• ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
• 1.25 litres (42 fl oz/5 cups) full cream (whole) milk
• 230 g (8 oz) granulated sugar
• 140 g (5 oz/½ cup) Dulce de leche (recipe here)
• caramel peanuts (recipe here), to serve (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine the rice, lemon peel, cinnamon, vanilla bean paste and 500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) cold water in a saucepan. Place over medium–high heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the water boils and almost evaporates.

2. Add the milk and sugar and cook, stirring frequently, for a further 35–40 minutes, until the rice is tender and the mixture has thickened.

3. Remove from the heat and stir through the dulce de leche.

4. Serve warm or chilled with caramel peanuts sprinkled over the top, if you like.

Recipe from The Food of Argentina by Ross Dobson and Rachel Tolosa Paz, Smith Street Books, RRP $44.99

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.