Rizogalo - a delicious Greek rice pudding

Today we will cook one of the best sweet Greek dishes you ever made. To be honest, it is not as easy as it seems in the beginning and it takes a lot of stirring action, but you will see, it’s worth it. The name Rizogalo came from the two main ingredients, rice in Greek Rizi and milk, in Greek Gala.

For about 6 portions you need:

• 2 tablespoons of butter
• 1 litre of milk
• Pinch of salt
• 80 ml of rice
• 2-3 very long strips of lemon
• 60 ml of sugar
• 2 well-beaten eggs
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• A bit of dash ground cinnamon for serving

How to prepare:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the milk, the pinch of salt, 1/3 of the sugar and bring it to boil.
2. In the pot, add the rice and the lemon rind and stir from time to time. Pay attention that the rice is cooked well soft, but not mushy.
3. When the rice is cooked, remove the lemon rind and stir in rest of the sugar
4. Put the two eggs in one cup and fill the cup with a part of the mixture. You must do this to prevent the eggs from curdling.
5. now, reduce the heat to low, but continue to cook and stir constantly. When the Rizogalo begins to thicken, remove the pot from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
6. Now cool down the Rizogalo to room temperature or better a bit more. Enjoy it with a bit of ground cinnamon on the top.

The special thing about the Rizogalo is the creaminess and the background taste of lemon. In order to get to this result, it is very important to have not only very fresh ingredients, but also to take your time and stir a lot. The traditional recipe is with the zest of lemon, but if you want you can also use the zest of orange to get another taste. Some Greek chefs believe that you can just use long grain rice, but usually you will receive the best results from the short grain rice. The best rice for Rizogalo is Arborio rice, but you have to find your own way. Now it’s your turn! Take your cooking dress and try it out!