We love Strawberries

All of a sudden there are an abundance of strawberries around.  Strawberries to us are like a glimpse of Summer, their colour and taste makes us come alive!  Luscious, sweet, soft and juicy...heavenly! 

Even though Summer is still a few weeks away, we are grabbing the opportunity of preparing a mouth-watering dessert with these beautiful berries.

Today we are making a Rice Pudding with Strawberries stewed in Lemongrass and Lime

Ingredients (serves 4)
2 lemongrass stalks
40g slivered almonds
450g strawberries, hulled and diced
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime
75g sugar
2 Tbsp water
550ml full cream milk
100g risotto rice
2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled
60ml unsweetened coconut milk

Remove the thicker outer layer of the lemongrass stalks.  Slice one stalk into three  pieces.  Grind the other one with the outer layers, using a coffee or spice grinder or food processor.  Toast the slivered almonds in a frying pan, until lightly browned.

Combine 280g of the strawberries, half the zest of the lime, 1 tsp of the ground lemongrass, 2 Tbsp of the sugar and the water in a small pot.  Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and let it simmer until the strawberries soften but still keep their shape.  Remove from the heat and add the lime juice.  Let the mixture cool.

Combine the milk with the 3 lemongrass pieces, the ginger and rest of the lime zest.  Bring to a boil then add the rice.  Lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes until the rice is creamy and soft.  Discard the lemongrass and ginger and mix in the rest of the sugar and the coconut milk.

Mix the cooked strawberries with the fresh ones and top the rice pudding with the strawberry compote and slivered almonds.

Serve.