Baked Rice Pudding

The ultimate comfort food
Serves 4

75g / 3oz pudding rice (short grain-rice)
750ml / 1 1/4 pint whole milk
300ml / 10 floz double cream
2 heaped tbsp sugar
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
1 bay leaf
Nutmeg, to grate over
Butter, for greasing & dotting.

Preheat the oven  15OC/ 300F/ Gas mark 2

Grease a large baking dish with a little butter. Put in the rice, sugar, vanilla seeds & pod and the bayleaf. Stir in the milk and cream, grate on the nutmeg and dot with a little butter. Pop the dish into the oven and bake for 1 hour. Then, remove from the oven and stir the pudding well. Remove the vanilla pod and bay leaf , pop the pud back in the oven to bake for a further 1 hour, or until the rice is soft and a lovely brown skin has formed on the top.