Mark Hix recipe: Jersey rice pudding with wild strawberries

Serves 4

Jersey rice pudding with wild strawberries (Jason Lowe)

You can find wild strawberries in country hedgerows, or you can grow them yourself. Trouble is, you need to get to them before the birds do. I had a nice crop of golden wild strawberries coming along this year in Dorset, then a week later they had vanished. Failing all that, search your local fruit and veg shops for them.

200g pudding rice
1.2ltrs milk
80g caster sugar
Half a vanilla pod, scraped
A good pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
300g thick Jersey cream
120g strawberries, hulled

To make the pudding, bring the milk to the boil with the sugar, vanilla and nutmeg.

Add the rice, stir well and simmer gently, stirring every so often, for 30 minutes, or until the rice is tender. A simmering plate is helpful for this.

Remove from the heat, leave to cool, stir in the Jersey cream and refrigerate until required.

Meanwhile, blend the strawberries to a purée. To serve, pour the sauce on to serving plates, spoon the rice pudding on top with a large kitchen spoon and scatter the wild strawberries over.