Off Duty Chef: Rice pudding with shortbread and jam

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 100g pudding rice
• 500ml milk
• 200ml cream
• 2 vanilla pods or 2 tbsp vanilla extract
• 70g icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 100ml single cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 4 tbsp raspberry jam (from basics)

For the shortbread

• 420g plain flour
• 120g icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract or seeds from 1 vanilla pod
• 250g salted butter, diced
• 2 tbsp caster sugar, for sprinkling

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150c
2. The first step with the rice is to place it in a bowl and run it under the cold tap for 3 mins, this will wash off excess starch. Once it's washed, transfer the rice to a rectangular ovenproof dish.
3. Place a saucepan on the heat and add your milk, warm this to just above hand temperature before pouring over the rice in the dish. Now to season the rice, half and scrape the vanilla seeds from the pods and add both to the dish. Stir in the icing sugar and salt.
4. Place a sheet of baking parchment onto the surface of the rice and milk, this will prevent a skin from forming. Place the dish in the oven and cook for 45 mins until the rice is just cooked, you'll know by tasting a few grains. It should be soft
5. To make the shortbread, start by preheating your oven to 185c. Place the icing sugar, vanilla and butter in a mixer using a paddle and mix until smooth. Add the flour and mix until a rough dough just comes together.
6. Place the dough on a sheet of flour dusted parchment paper and fold over on itself. Roll into a rough rectangle that follows the shape of the folded paper until it is about 1 inch thick. Place this on a tray and rest in the fridge for one hour.
7. In the meantime, line a tray with a sheet of parchment paper. Remove the chilled dough from the fridge and peel back the parchment paper. Using a sharp knife, cut into rectangle biscuits and carefully move them to the baking tray using a spatula.
8. Sprinkle with caster sugar and bake in the oven for 15 mins. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
9. Now back to the rice pudding. Once it’s cooked, remove the parchment and scrape the rice into a clean bowl. At this stage the vanilla pods have done their job so can be discarded. Chill the rice in the fridge.
10. When ready to serve, whip the 100ml of cream until it holds soft peaks. Fold this through the pudding to lighten the texture, adjust the seasoning with icing sugar. Serve in bowls with a spoonful of jam and some crumbled shortbread biscuits.