VANILLA RISOTTO ICE CREAM { Risotto al gelato di riso }

With Spring coming up and the warm Föhn blowing in from the Alps, I’ve been waiting and waiting for spring berries to come back, full-force, into the markets.

It’s raining now instead of snowing, and I’m happy to say I left the flat yesterday in just a sweater… that is, I was sans the usual puffy winter coat. It’s not warm enough to go streaking. Although maybe the FKK has a different opinion? You never know with them. Anyways.

This warm weather has me thinking of summer trips to Italy and Tommie’s spot-on asparagus risotto… (spargelzeit is coming, people) and so I decided to take advantage of the first magenta raspberries of spring and the left over arborio rice from last fall, e così, my sweet risotto-panna-cotta-gelato hybrid which I’m shamelessly calling “Rice Cream” around the house. Cue the groans. I know. I know. But you try saying Rice Ice Cream. It’s syllabically redundant, and no one’s got time for that.

Creamy and cold vanilla risotto in a sweet raspberry coulis packing summery notes of citrus… Feel free to switch out the raspberry with another of your favorite fruits. Vanilla Risotto (i.e., rice pudding) is the perfect medium for so many flavors that you can really have fun getting creative with your pairings.

Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

(Normally makes about a half quart, but sometimes less due to variances in rice absorption… If you want to be safe, double this recipe!)

For your Raspberry Coulis:

1 small box fresh Raspberries

Teaspoon of sugar (to taste)

Squeeze of lemon juice (to taste)

Splash of water (more water = thinner sauce, less water = thicker sauce)

For your Custard:

1/4 cup arborio rice (55 grams)

1 1/2 cups whole milk (350 mL)

small pinch of salt

1/2 vanilla bean split lengthwise and scraped out

1 one inch wide strip of orange peel (with the least amount of rind possible!)

1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar (75 to 85 grams)

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup heavy cream (120 mL)

small pinch of nutmeg

small pinch of cinnamon

Bowl of ice water

Tools:

Blender (preferably Immersion or Stick blender)

1 liter baking dish

Whisk

Fine Mesh Sieve

Large bowl & smaller bowl (ice bath)

Wooden spoon or Heatproof Spatula 

Thermometer*

small - medium sauce pan

*Ideal, not essential

Instructions:

For your Risotto Rice Pudding Ice Cream Base:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C).

2. Mix the rice, milk, vanilla, orange peel, salt and two tablespoons of the sugar (25 to 30 grams) in a 1 - 1.5 quart (1 - 1.5 Liter) baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.

3. Bake in the oven for one hour. If you have a choice, use the “conventional heating” setting (the one with the box with one or two horizontal lines at the bottom and/or top) rather than the “fan oven” setting (which looks like a box with a fan symbol inside). It will result in a more luscious rice pudding.

4. At one hour, take the dish out of the oven and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. You can add a little more milk if it seems to be drying out quickly, but the rice is still not cooked. Put it back into the oven, this time uncovered, for another 10 to 30 minutes or until your rice is soft all the way through. Keep an eye on it to prevent it from drying out or burning.

5. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. (This will become an ice bath for cooling the custard later on.) Leave your medium nesting bowl out of the cold water for now. (You will need to blend half of custard in this later before cooling it.)

6. Once it is cooked, pull it from the oven and remove the vanilla bean pod and the orange peel. Quickly whisk in your egg yolks, followed by the heavy cream, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

7. Finely purée half of the rice mixture and then mix both halves together in the nesting bowl. Float the nesting bowl in the ice bath to help cool the custard (5-ish minutes).

8. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least four hours. Letting it sit even longer, perhaps overnight, is even better.

9. When you are ready to churn, follow the instructions of your ice cream maker. Pour your chilled custard into your machine and let it churn until it has the texture you desire. Once finished, either eat immediately or store in an airtight container and freeze.

For your Raspberry Coulis:

1. Throw your raspberries, a little sugar, and squeeze of lemon juice into a small saucepan. (You know how sweet or tart you want your coulis to be, so add more or less of each ingredient accordingly). Place over medium-low heat, stirring periodically while it gently simmers. Add water to your berry mixture according to how thick or thin you would like it to be. (Remember the sauce will thicken a little when it cools.)

2. Stay close while the berries cook. They need only gentle heat and reach their peak very suddenly. When the berries are collapsed and the beautiful deep red sauce starts to thicken (normally around 3 - 5 minutes), remove the coulis from the heat and buzz a few times with your blender. (Not too much or you’ll make the seeds small enough to pass through the sieve… and pretty much no one likes seeds in their coulis.)

3. Strain your sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a container and let cool. Once it reaches room temperature, store it in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to drizzle it on your Rice Pudding Gelato.

To finish the ice cream:

10. This particular ice cream is one that is best when eaten soft but due to its glutenous nature takes a long time to soften. Plan to thaw this in your refrigerator over at least a half hour before you want to serve it!

And don’t forget your coulis!

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This Rice Pudding ice cream with Raspberry Coulis will keep for about one week.

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Notes :

+ You can make Rice Pudding at any time of the year, but the coulis is best served whenever the fruit is in season. Peak fruits season varies depending on where you live on the planet. For the freshest taste, ask your local farmers and cooks when the fruit is at its best.

+ Keep an eye on the pudding while it bakes. You want the rice to soften slowly and have enough liquid to absorb in order to do this. Add a little extra milk or reduce the oven temperature if you have an aggressive oven, like I do!

+ For the lemon in the coulis recipe (in all recipes, really) I would suggest choosing the heaviest lemon (compared to other lemons of the same size) because that will be the ripest and the juiciest. Let your fruit reach room temperature before you use it. I even let my citrus sit in the window planter in the sunshine until I'm ready to use it. Give it a little bang on your counter and roll it under a heavy hand before you juice it. This will help release the intense flavor you're looking for. 

Great pairings for Rice Pudding:

Rice goes so well, with so many flavors. I’ve listed a few here, but really, you can go wild with your pairings. Have fun!

Sweet: Berries/Red Fruit, Tropical Fruit (Mango, Banana, Lychee), Stone Fruit (Peaches, cherries), Vanilla, Pistachio, Almond, Mint, Chocolate, Baking spices (Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove), Caramel, Sparkling or Sweet White Wines, Red Wine with Dark Fruit Notes, Coconut, Butterscotch, Florals (Rose, Lavender, Hibiscus)

Savory: Great after both heavy and light meals!

Vanilla Risotto Ice Cream with Raspberry Coulis

Laura | April 2020

Prep time: 1 hour & 40 minutes

Chilling time: 4 hours

Total time: ~ 6 Hours

Servings: Makes about a half quart of ice cream

Level of Skill: Easy

Ingredients:

For your Custard:

• 1/4 cup arborio rice (55 grams)
• 1 1/2 cups whole milk (350 mL)
• small pinch of salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean split lengthwise and scraped out
• 1 one inch wide strip of orange peel
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons sugar (75 to 85 grams)
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (120 mL)
• small pinch of nutmeg
• small pinch of cinnamon

For your Raspberry Coulis

• 1 small box fresh Raspberries
• Teaspoon of sugar (to taste)
• Squeeze of lemon juice (to taste)
• Splash of water (more water = thinner sauce, less water = thicker sauce)

Instructions:

For your Risotto Rice Pudding Ice Cream Base:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 ° F (175 ° C).

2. Mix the rice, milk, vanilla, orange peel, salt and two tablespoons of the sugar (25 to 30 grams) in a 1 - 1.5 quart (1 - 1.5 Liter) baking dish and cover with aluminum foil.

3. Bake in the oven for one hour. If you have a choice, use the “conventional heating” setting (the one with the box with one or two horizontal lines at the bottom and/or top) rather than the “fan oven” setting (which looks like a box with a fan symbol inside). It will result in a more luscious rice pudding.

4. At one hour, take the dish out of the oven and stir in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. You can add a little more milk if it seems to be drying out quickly, but the rice is still not cooked. Put it back into the oven, this time uncovered, for another 10 to 30 minutes or until your rice is soft all the way through. Keep an eye on it to prevent it from drying out or burning.

5. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice. (This will become an ice bath for cooling the custard later on.) Leave your medium nesting bowl out of the cold water for now. (You will need to blend half of custard in this later before cooling it.)

6. Once it is cooked, pull it from the oven and remove the vanilla bean pod and the orange peel. Quickly whisk in your egg yolks, followed by the heavy cream, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

7. Finely purée half of the rice mixture and then mix both halves together in the nesting bowl. Float the nesting bowl in the ice bath to help cool the custard (5-ish minutes).

8. Refrigerate in an airtight container for at least four hours. Letting it sit even longer, perhaps overnight, is even better.

9. When you are ready to churn, follow the instructions of your ice cream maker. Pour your chilled custard into your machine and let it churn until it has the texture you desire. Once finished, either eat immediately or store in an airtight container and freeze.

For your Raspberry Coulis:

1. Throw your raspberries, a little sugar, and squeeze of lemon juice into a small saucepan. (You know how sweet or tart you want your coulis to be, so add more or less of each ingredient accordingly). Place over medium-low heat, stirring periodically while it gently simmers. Add water to your berry mixture according to how thick or thin you would like it to be. (Remember the sauce will thicken a little when it cools.)

2. Stay close while the berries cook. They need only gentle heat and reach their peak very suddenly. When the berries are collapsed and the beautiful deep red sauce starts to thicken (normally around 3 - 5 minutes), remove the coulis from the heat and buzz a few times with your blender. (Not too much or you’ll make the seeds small enough to pass through the sieve… and pretty much no one likes seeds in their coulis.)

3. Strain your sauce through a fine mesh sieve into a container and let cool. Once it reaches room temperature, store it in an airtight container and keep it in the refrigerator until you're ready to drizzle it on your Rice Pudding Gelato.

To finish the ice cream:

1. This particular ice cream is one that is best when eaten soft but due to its glutenous nature takes a long time to soften. Plan to thaw this in your refrigerator over at least a half hour before you want to serve it!

And don’t forget your coulis!

Nutrition:

(per 1/2 cup serving)

Servings: Four 1/2 cup sized scoops

Fat: 23 grams

Calories: 393

Nutrition estimated by Happyforks.com