Just Peachy Rice Pudding

I've always suspected that I have the taste palate of an old soul. I honestly enjoy mushy peas, bread pudding, tapioca pudding, egg salad sandwiches, cottage cheese and yes, rice pudding. Let's just say that, growing up, my Nana and I liked a lot of the same foods! As a child, I knew that to admit that I enjoyed dishes like these wouldn't be cool so I kept my love of these foods to myself. Well, no more! I .... love ... rice pudding! There, I said it.

Now, I have never confessed to being a perfect cook and regularly make mistakes but sometimes I get a little too big for my britches and the Powers That Be bring me back down to earth ... hard. Case in point: When I read a similar recipe it stated to cook this dish over medium heat until the milk boils. Me, in my 'infinite' and slightly deluded wisdom, decided that a medium temperature wasn't hot enough so I upped it a bit to medium-high. *enter in powers that be* Even with constant stirring my pudding began to stick to the bottom edges and made a wee bit of a mess and my rice was just a tad underdone (I assume that happened because getting the mixture to boil over medium heat would take longer and give the rice more time to cook than if you upped the temperature like I did).

Now, these faux pas of mine weren't enough to throw out the dish (I'm not crazy!) but enough for me to give myself a mental smack for committing the culinary sin of 'Being Cocky in the Kitchen'. So what I'm saying is, there are certain things you can tweak in a recipe and certain things that you just have to follow. Duly noted, Powers That Be. Duly noted.

I hope you enjoy this dish. It's creamy and I luuurve (not just love, I luuurve it) the taste of nutmeg paired with the peaches. I also love that the ingredients are always in my pantry in case I get the rice pudding urge again.

Just Peachy Rice Pudding


Source: The Baking Bookworm

Yield: 6 servings

2 cups milk
14oz can peach slices - drained (keep liquid) & peaches diced
Juice from peach slices (I got about 1/2 cup)
136g (6 serving) box vanilla cooked pudding & pie filling (not instant)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup instant rice
Garnish: Cinnamon sugar (optional)

Place all ingredients except diced peaches in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.

Add diced peaches and let pudding stand for 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over tops of individual dishes, if desired. Store leftovers in the fridge.