May 17, 2010

Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

First

Orzo is the most cutest shaped pasta ever in my eyes. They look like rice but only they are pasta. The regular Orzo would typically look white as they are made with Durum wheat/semolina, but these that were used in my pudding are whole wheat and hence they have this brownish hue to them.

Orzo2

I was so thrilled to find the w.w. ones, just because I had not seen them until then or see them being used in any of the recipes I came across.
So very excited, came home, made a beautiful Orzo pasta salad with my favorite vegetables, cranberries and plenty of sunflower seeds and the rest went into making this pudding.

Orzo1

I love Rice pudding, especially the Indian kind. It is called Payasam or Kheer and is very similar to that of its American counterpart. Except there is no eggs in payasam.
My mom to this date makes the best payasam. I don't know what it is that she does, but turns out just right every single time. Rich, creamy... with nice crunchy cashew nuts and fat raisins that cannot get any fatter from drinking all that milk that it soaks up. I could keep on dreaming about it. My, she works such magic with desserts!
So in short, that is where my Orzo pudding inspiration comes from. You could always substitute regular Orzo if you are not a fan of the w.w. kind.
Do keep an eye out for the tempering process (I have detailed it in the recipe below.)
It is a little tricky if you add too much hot liquid into the cold eggs. Gradually heating the mixture is key, just like any other pudding.
Just a small note before we head on to the recipe... this pudding does tends to thicken as it cools.

First1

Creamy Whole Wheat Orzo Pudding

Ingredients:

Skim milk - 2 1/2 cups
Whole wheat Orzo - 2 1/2 cups
Fat free evaporated milk - Half a can (or) 6 oz.
Brown sugar - 1/3 cup (More or less according to taste)
Organic Blue Agave - 4 tbsp (I like the taste of Agave, if you do not have it ready, you can add more of the sugar)
Egg - 1
Baking soda - A pinch
Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp grated fresh
Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Pure Vanilla essence - 1 tbsp
Almonds - 1/4 cup chopped/slivered
Raisins - 1/4 cup

Method:

Beat together brown sugar, agave and egg in a bowl.

Combine skim milk and evaporated milk in a non-stick pan and bring it to a boil. Add orzo and let it cook till it is closer to al dente. Do not overcook since it will continue to cook during the process. Keep stirring every now and then to avoid sticking to the bottom.

Pour a little (maybe a ladle) of the milk mixture to the egg and sugar mixture and mix well. Add a two more ladles, one at a time and gradually mix it. Then add the entire mixture back to the pot and let it simmer with a pinch of baking soda.
Very slowly heating up the egg mixture is called tempering.
If you add it all at once to the hot pot of milk, the eggs will curdle and you will get scrambled eggs. And it is totally not pretty!

Add the nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla essence and stir well. Also add almond and raisins at this step.

The mixture will thicken as it is cooling. The pasta tends to drink up a good amount of milk.

I like mine thoroughly chilled. It tastes best that way.

Last

Last1

34 comments:

  1. Healthy and delicious one.. mouth watering clicks dear.. awesome job.. yummyyyy

    ReplyDelete
  2. wow delicious..i like this pasta because its looks like rice ..the pudding so simple and really healthy..nice pic too

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow..luks delicious..i never know abt orzo pudding..

    ReplyDelete
  4. delicious recipe...nice one

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wat a droolworthy pudding, i have never seen whole wheat orzo here, will try out with the usual orzo..

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Anu, this pudding looks so good...where did you get the whole wheat orzo pasta?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Innovative pasta payasam :) plz post the recipe for green peas halwa!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looks delicious!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. that looks creamy N delicious

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow.. Pudding with orzo.. new to me.. Looks delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousMay 17, 2010

    having gone thru u blog, its not a surprise that u have used whole wheat orzo..looks pretty creamy to me.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's so creamy and yummy. Love your clicks. Your pics surprise me every time. Like to try this pudding sometime.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yummy and Healthy ..

    ReplyDelete
  14. Never heard abt orzo wats the alternative for it...anyway looks creamy & yum

    ReplyDelete
  15. @Gita - Most of the stores have it these days. In the pasta aisle.
    @Sharmilee - Alternative? Rice! :)
    @Lakshmi - I did not take the picture of the halwa, so I will have to send you the recipe. I made it at the last minute and wasn't even thinking about it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow looking so creamy and delicious.......

    ReplyDelete
  17. Pasta kheer innovative and orzo is best sub for rice.Excellent clicks.I too prefer chilled

    ReplyDelete
  18. lovely recipe dhivya... moms do make the best payasam.. don't they?
    I have never tried orzo before... vaanganum :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love orzo too! Where did you get the whole wheat ones? Trader Joe's?

    And I'd never have thought of payasam with it!

    ReplyDelete
  20. looks very yummy... i have never tried orzo, this tempts!

    ReplyDelete
  21. This looks so yummy! I love puddings and this one certainly looks delicious. I have often wondered what orzo was... thanks for the tip! I will have to try some.

    jessyburke88@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. Pudding looks lovely, something new to me :)

    ReplyDelete
  23. Nice to learn about orzo! This sounds fairly healthy as puddings go! Thanks. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Very creative and delicious recipe

    Very creative and delicious recipe! Tempting photographs!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Healthy dessert. Looks so good.... Yummy and creamy....

    ReplyDelete
  26. I am drooling right now!! Lovely blog. Happy to follow u.
    http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. I was so excited to find your blog, the recipes here are so exciting. This is the first time ever i am so excited about recipes :), cant stop telling myself these are all low fat recipes.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I was so excited to find your blog, the recipes here are so exciting. This is the first time ever i am so excited about recipes :), cant stop telling myself these are all low fat recipes.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment on this post. I will try to respond to queries as soon as I can. If I miss anything that needs to be addressed... please feel free to ping me again.
Happy cooking/baking or whatever it is you are doing in the kitchen! :)