L’Ami Jean is a famous bistro in Paris. It’s famous for many things, including the best rice pudding ever. I concur with this assessment. The recipe below is adapted from the bistro by the New York Times.
Ingredients
- ½ vanilla bean
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/3 cup Carnaroli, Arborio or short-grain rice
- 2 ½ tablespoons sugar
- 1 2/3 cups heavy cream.
Instructions
- Split the vanilla bean, scrape out the seeds and place the seeds and pod in a medium saucepan.
- Add the milk and bring to a simmer.
- Stir in the rice and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it reaches the consistency of oatmeal, 25 to 30 minutes.
- Stir in the sugar. Cool to room temperature, then chill.
- Transfer the chilled rice to a large bowl.
- Whip the cream to stiff peaks.
- Fold the whipped cream into the rice, little by little, to desired thickness. It should be light and creamy.
My notes: I prefer short grain rice and definitely not Arborio. Also, I think 1 cup whipped cream is plenty. I like my pudding sweeter so I add 1/2 cup sugar to this quantity.