MM's Cheap Eats: Rice pudding

OLD FAVOURITE: Rice pudding

By Melanie Hughes

MM's resident foodie is back with another of her low-budget dishes. For a simple new year treat she brings you a simple rice pudding recipe.

Rice Pudding

Serves 6

100g Long-grain rice

70g butter

50g sugar

1 litre milk

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg to top

This is an unbelievably easy recipe and you don’t even need short grain rice, I promise! I used Tesco’s own value long grain rice for this recipe and it worked a treat, the trick is to get the best possible milk available.

Try to get full-fat milk at least but if you can get the special extra creamy varieties then that’s even better this will save you putting cream in at all.

All you need to do is preheat the oven to 200 (for electric fan ovens). In a Pyrex dish add the rice, milk, sugar and butter.

It works best if the butter is cut into smaller chunks and spread throughout the dish then just grate a bit of the nutmeg over the top, or sprinkle some ground nutmeg on top if that’s all you have – it doesn’t make much difference.

Simply put the dish into the hot oven for 30 minutes. A skin layer will form on the top and a wise family elder told me to stir in the first two skins then stir no more.

Then after 30 minutes, turn down the oven to 180 and leave for around an hour but keep an eye on it, when it’s bubbling away and the top has turned a lovely golden brown colour then it’s ready.

Just put into bowls and serve by itself.