A Dessert Risotto

A perpetual question at our house is: "What can we make for dessert that’s different from the usual, tired, Italian standbys, tiramisu and cannoli?"

One evening I remembered how we both loved rice pudding as kids, but how rare it is to find good rice pudding. So, I decided to try a “dessert risotto.” No doubt my great grandmother Ledovina Andrazi Iatonni would be skeptical, but the results far exceeded my expectations.

The wonderful thing about the special rice used for risotto (arborio, and others) is that it creates its own creaminess. This results from the carbohydrate shell that surrounds the rice kernel slowly dissolving as you cook it (and why the liquid is added in stages for a proper risotto). For the dessert version, additional creaminess was obtained by cooking the rice in milk (or for a vegan version soy milk), with some cinnamon bark, and just a hint of nutmeg and cardamom.

Cook the rice as you normally would for risotto but use hot milk as the cooking liquid adding it in increments as the rice cooks. For dessert, I cooked the rice a bit longer than I normally would but that’s a matter of personal taste. Right before the rice is done, add vanilla, sugar, and honey in proportions to suite your taste. Serve on small dessert plates and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top.

Era squisito!