Lemon-scented Italian rice pudding tartlets
Servings 16 tartlets
Ingredients
For the rice pudding:
- 1 l (4 1/4 cups) whole milk
- 300 grams (1 1/2 cups) pudding rice
- 1 tablespoon organic vanilla essence, or 1 vanilla bean
- zest of one organic lemon
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 8 grams (1/2 tbsp) baking powder
- 2 free-range eggs
For the short pastry shells:
- 200 grams (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 100 grams (2/3 cups) rice flour
- 150 grams (3/4 cups) sugar
- 150 grams (2/3 cups) butter
- 8 grams baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 free-range egg
Instructions
- First thing first, let’s make the shortcrust pastry. Sieve the plain flour with the rice flour and mix them with the raw cane sugar, salt and baking powder. Add the diced butter and rub all the ingredients with your fingertips to make soft crumbles, just as grated Parmesan cheese.
- Beat the egg in a bowl, then add it to the crumbles and keep rubbing the ingredients with your fingertips until you have a nice and smooth ball of dough. If you have rubbed the butter and the flour thoroughly, it will take only a few minutes, and you won't overheat the pastry, which will eventually be crumbly and light. Flatten the dough ball with your hands, wrap it in clingfilm and let it rest in the fridge.
- Now pour the milk into a large thick-bottomed pot and bring it to a simmer with the lemon peel and the vanilla pod. When it starts simmering, add the pudding rice and let it cook completely (it will depend on the kind of rice you chose: it must be thoroughly cooked, soft and sticky). Mine took about 15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar. Let it cool down completely.
- When the rice is cold, mix in 2 egg yolks, the baking powder and 3 tablespoons of sugar. Whip the egg whites and fold them gently into the rice pudding.
- Preheat oven to 170°C / 350°F.
- Roll the pastry with a rolling pin on a floured surface in a 5 mm thick sheet and line 16 muffin moulds. The fastest way to make it and have regular and nice pastry shells is to cut out some pastry discs with a glass as big as the bottom of the muffin mould and press them gently in. Then cut with a knife some pastry strips to line the sides of the muffin mould. Press the pastry lightly with your fingers to seal the bottom with the side stripes.
- Spoon the rice pudding into the pastry shells and bake for about 40 minutes (25 minutes will be enough in a convection oven) until the rice tartlets will be golden brown on the edges.
- Serve them warm or cold, with a dusting of icing sugar or some fresh fruit and yoghurt.
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