February Recipe Swap: Mary’s Rice Pie

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For the month of February, Christianna of the Burwell General Store chose a wild rice dressing as the recipe to be swapped.

The rules of the swap are simple. Each month Christianna sends us a recipe from a vintage cookbook, to which we have to give our own twist by changing at least three things either in the recipe’s ingredients, or technique or both.

I have never worked with wild rice before. But for this swap I found out a little about it and it turns out wild rice is actually not a member of the rice family. This article is an interesting read about wild rice.

From the moment I saw the recipe I was inspired to go the sweet way for it ( no wonder I have weight issues!). I don’t know why, but rice pudding kept haunting me. I rummaged through a few of my cookbooks and found a recipe for wild rice pudding with cranberries in Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax. It sounded great and I was so excited to try a version of rice pudding that used wild rice.

But things don’t always go as planned.

Even though I am quite sure wild rice is not available in our local grocery store, I still will admit that even if it was, it completely slipped from my mind to look for wild rice each time I visited the store. And since I was in no mood to make the trip especially for it again, I decided to try the Indian version of rice pudding called phirni- one of the few Indian desserts I love.

But there was another hiccup to my plans. I realised I did not have enough milk for it (yes this was after a grocery trip- I seriously need to look at managing pantry supplies!)

Now, Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts had a recipe for a rice pie, which Richard Sax called the best recipe in the book. I have never had or even heard of a rice pie. I was intrigued. The recipe can be successfully halved but since it was just V and me eating, I quartered the recipe. I still had more filling than required for the pie so I mixed some cardamom and cinnamon to the leftover filling and kept it on low flame for 30 min, and served it in individual bowls. It was rich, but tasty. The same holds for the rice pie.

MARY’S RICE PIE

Richard Sax calls it one the best recipes in his book Classic Home Desserts. Generally baked ina  rectangular pan , it is a sturdy dessert that travels well. The recipe is from Mary Codola of Rhode Island, who has been baking it for her family at Easter for many years.

The taste is quite similar to custard and even though I am not a fan of custard, this wasn’t that bad actually. In fact it was pretty good. It is quite heavy though and a few spoons will fill you up! I would suggest small servings of this.

Original recipe makes one 13 by 9 inch pie, serves 12

(I have listed the original recipe)

Source: Richard Sax’s Classic Home Desserts

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice ( I used basmati)
  • Pie crust (I used this recipe and added 1 tbsp sugar to it)
  • 5 cups milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6 large eggs
  • About 2 cups ricotta cheese, drained in a cheesecloth lined colander for few hours/overnight (I used cottage cheese as I did not have any ricotta)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar, or less to taste
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon, for sprinkling

Directions

  1. Boil water with some salt in a large pot. After thoroughly washing the rice, add the rice to the boiling water, and let boil for 15 minutes. Drain well.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  3. Butter a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Roll out the pie dough, on a lightly floured surface to a large rectangle about 1.4 inch thick. Line the pan with the pie dough, being careful as to not tear the dough. Cut the edges hanging out of the dish.
  4. Line the dough with a sheet of buttered foil, buttered side down.
  5. Bake in the hot oven for about 8 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and bake for a further 6-8 minutes , pricking any air bubble with a fork. Bake until dough begins to turn very pale gold. Cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
  6. Combine the drained rice with 4 cups of milk and the salt. Simmer until tender, usually about 20 minutes.
  7. In a bowl beat eggs with the remaining 1 cup milk. Mix in the ricotta, sugar, cream and vanilla. Stir in the rice milk mixture and mix well. Pour into the pie shell and sprinkle the cinnamon on top.
  8. Bake for about 50 minutes, until the filling is set.
  9. Cool the pie on a wire rack to room temperature. Serve at cool room temperature. To store, cover and refrigerate but let come to room temperature for about 20 minutes before serving.

Do check out what the other talented Recipe Swappers have come up this Swap:

Posted in: Baking, Recipe Swap, Tart ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

17 Thoughts on “February Recipe Swap: Mary’s Rice Pie”

  1. PolaM on 5 February, 2012 at 6:51 pm said:

    How beautiful! It really looks delicious!

  2. Kim Bee on 5 February, 2012 at 7:07 pm said:

    This is a wonderful recipe. Love the idea of a rice pie. And it’s so pretty.

  3. The Cozy Herbivore on 5 February, 2012 at 7:09 pm said:

    Ooooh, I love custard-y pies. This looks very yummy!

  4. Barbara | Creative Culinary on 5 February, 2012 at 7:29 pm said:

    I admit; have never had nor heard of a rice pie but this looks great; that first photo is simply edible!

  5. Shari on 5 February, 2012 at 7:40 pm said:

    Yummy – so glad you took this in a sweet direction (both metaphorically and literally)

  6. Camilla Fay on 5 February, 2012 at 8:22 pm said:

    Such a treat to be challenged culinary every month with the swap ~ your rendition looks absolutely mouthwatering. I keep starting at your gorgeous photos 🙂

  7. Bam's Kitchen on 6 February, 2012 at 3:12 am said:

    Your flaky crust has my attention. Very interesting dish, I have not tried this one before. Your photos are stunning.

  8. Toni @ Boulder Locavore on 6 February, 2012 at 4:52 am said:

    What a beautiful dessert! One thing I love about this swap is that something different about the original recipe stands out to each of us. You mentioned forgetting about wild rice when at the store. I noted several mentioned of curry powder (which I love) and that element escaped my attention from the first recipe completely! I love your rice pudding. I’ve never seen it made with a crust or the ricotta and I’m sure it is beyond delicious (as is your little red pan!)

  9. Shinu on 6 February, 2012 at 7:01 am said:

    That first pic is a killer one…rice pie is sooo unique! trust you to always find something great in something new 🙂

  10. Julia on 6 February, 2012 at 10:24 am said:

    Wow, what a great take on the swap recipe!!! I love that you turned it into a dessert.

  11. Lana on 6 February, 2012 at 11:40 am said:

    You made me giggle while I was reading – being absent-minded myself, I never go to the store without a list. And I make a list of items to buy on a dry-erase board that’s stuck on my fridge (I don’t rely upon my memory:)
    Unlike you, I love custards and creamy desserts and I also love rice pudding:)
    Great take on the recipe:) Your photos are gorgeous!

  12. sara on 6 February, 2012 at 12:12 pm said:

    Wow, this looks so delicious! I love custard, and rice pudding, so this sounds like a wonderful combo! 🙂

  13. Rachel on 6 February, 2012 at 12:29 pm said:

    Ah the saga of forgotten ingredients at the grocery store! I so that ALL the time and I swear it influences half the things I cook. It looks like you arrived at a fabulous rice dessert despite the ingredient hiccups. I’ve never heard of rice pie but it looks incredibly rich and decadent!

  14. Burwell General Store on 6 February, 2012 at 10:18 pm said:

    Oh yeah, I’ve been there, girl, with the swap post. You gracefully redeemed yourself, while I had a recipe fail so utterly dismal I just wrote about the fail. What a beautiful discovery/redemption dish! I love that you went sweet with it. Great photos, too! So glad to have you in the swap.

  15. Jamie on 6 February, 2012 at 11:03 pm said:

    My mom loves anything with rice and the consistency of rice pudding – this would be right up her alley!

  16. Alli on 8 February, 2012 at 10:09 pm said:

    Wow. Your first picture was enough to sell me! What a great dish this would be for a brunch or lunch party. Such a great evolution of the recipe 🙂

  17. The Dusty Baker on 12 February, 2012 at 1:48 pm said:

    Oh my GOODNESS this looks delicious! What a great special dish for a group of people you love! Delicious swap!

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