Almond Rice Pudding With Quick Strawberry Marsala Jam & Pistachios

The strawberries are coming out and their redness are just too inviting to resist.  Normally, I would wait a little longer to buy them until I see that they are not the imported ones anymore because they don't taste of anything.   But as I saw one tag after the other, they are all saying one thing.  They are grown right here!  I really prefer the smaller ones from one area here called Terracina because they are tastier but I had to scold myself for being too picky to nature's first yield of spring.  They are beautiful, fresh, tasty and very red strawberries! 

I had been ensconced in my kitchen for some days creating and preparing some strawberry desserts for future recipes to post.  I stopped after my fifth recipe because I was scared that I would end the strawberry season at home just as it is at the beginning for strawberry overload.  My kids had been eating them non-stop the first few times we had them but now they don't even notice them anymore.  It means one thing.  The strawberries should disappear for a while.  So the fruit are gone but let me share with you one of the recipes that captivated me.  I got this from Jamie Oliver while watching one of his programs.  

Like with most recipes, we tend to modify them a bit according to our liking.  I changed some things with this one.  I always use almond milk in place of cow's milk in most of my recipes and this was not an exception.  I am not lactose intolerant, I just don't like the smell and taste of dairy milk.  With the strawberry jam, I decided not to scrunch the strawberries with the sugar before heating them up in the saucepan like what it says in the original recipe.  I also lessened the sugar and I added some Marsala wine (Yes, I do love it!) that you can take away of course.  In addition to the crushed meringue, I also added some crushed pistachios.  Overall, I loved the result of what happened in my kitchen.  I love this recipe especially the quick strawberry jam spiked with Marsala wine.  It will definitely happen in my kitchen again.  Sometime soon.

Have a wonderful week to all of you!

Almond Rice Pudding With Quick Strawberry Marsala Jam and Pistachios

Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Creamy Rice Pudding With the Quickest Strawberry Jam with modifications

Ingredients:

Serves 4

• 1 cup rice (I used Arborio.)
• 5 cups ready-to-drink sweet almond milk (Reserve more if still needed during cooking.) (Use regular cow's milk like in the original recipe.)
• 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (or vanilla extract)
• 500 grams strawberries, hulled, washed and chopped coarsely
• 4 heaping tablespoons of sugar
• 1/4 cup Marsala wine (optional)
• 2 - 4 meringue
• 1/4 cup ground pistachios

 Directions:

1. In a medium saucepot over medium heat, cook the strawberries with the sugar, vanilla seeds and Marsala wine.  When it boils, put down the heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring once in a while.  Skim off the foam. 
2. Meanwhile, in another medium saucepot over high heat, cook the rice with 4 cups of almond milk.  Once it boils, put down the heat to low, cover and simmer until the rice is cooked through, about 20 minutes.  Stir once in a while to avoid sticking to the bottom.  Add more milk if the rice is drying up.  It has to come out creamy. 
3. Serve the rice pudding in a bowl with some crushed meringue, strawberry jam and pistachios.