A sweet, vanilla rich rice pie, topped with a thin strawberry sauce and strawberry halves and sprinkled with dark and white chocolate. This Vanilla Rice Pie with Strawberries is fruity, with a yeasty pie bottom and the fresh strawberries remind us that spring has started slowly.
In light of this slow starting spring, and freezing night temperature, I made a vanilla rice pie with strawberries. This is twist on a traditional recipe from the South of the Netherlands, called a vlaai. A vlaai is a German, Dutch, Belgium pie with traditionally consisting of a bottom and a filling, mostly fruit filling. This is a rice filling. According to tradition the bottom is made from a yeasty dough and on top of the rice filling you will find a thick layer of whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
This Vanilla Rice Pie with Strawberries has indeed a yeast dough, filled with something close to a ‘rice pudding and topped with fresh strawberry jam and fresh strawberry halves. The finishing touch is some dark and white chocolate shavings. The result is soft pie bottom, like a bread, with a filling that is creamy. The pie is not very heavy and a lovely fresh fruity strawberry jam topping with a healthy dose of lemon juice.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
- Self-made strawberry Jam: sugar, lemon, strawberries
- Milk
- Active yeast
- All-purpose flour
- Butter
- Egg yolk
- Cream
- Vanilla bean
- Arborio rice
- Eggs
- White and dark chocolate
How to Make Vanilla Rice Pie with Strawberries
- Step 1 – Make the strawberry jam first. Zest and squeeze the lemon and transfer both to a small saucepan. Add the sugar and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved.
- Add the washed, hulled and quartered strawberries (Keep enough strawberries aside to use as decoration) and bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes. When it starts to gel a little bit, allow it to cool.
- Step 2 – Make the pie dough. Warm the milk and the sugar to lukewarm and allow the sugar to dissolve. Add the yeast and allow to ‘foam’.
- Transfer flour to a bowl, add salt, melted butter, egg yolk and milk-sugar-yeast mixture. Mix well into a supple dough. Cover and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.
- Step 3 – Make the filling. Transfer milk and cream to a saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and transfer seeds and bean to the milk. Add the rice and cook this mixture for about 20 minutes until the rice is done. Stir every now and then to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cool down.
- Mix eggs and sugar as much as you can and add to the cooled rice mixture.
- Step 4 – Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a pie form with butter and cover bottom with parchment paper and butter that slightly. Roll the dough out on a flour covered surface until you have the diameter of the form + sides and the dough is about 1/5 inch thick. Place the dough in the pie form and prick some holes in the bottom.
- Pour the rice mixture into the dough and slide pie in the oven for about 30 minutes. Pie will be golden brown and done.
- Allow the pie to cool a little and then take it out of its form. The bottom has a kind of bread-dough consistency, so it should be easy to get out of the form.
- Step 5 – Once the pie is almost cool, poor the strawberry jam over the top and decorate with strawberry halves. When totally cool, use your vegetable peeler and divide some dark and white chocolate curls or shavings over the top.
For the strawberry jam I used Ina Garten’s recipe. You can use store-bought jam as well, but making jam yourself is not that difficult. Additional advantage; you can control the flavor. When you make the entire recipe, you’ll have some extra delicious fresh strawberry jam for your breakfast or lunch :-). Who wants to turn down fresh jam.
It’s like a semi fruit pie, like our semi spring at the moment.
You can use rice in way more way than risotto or pilaf. Try some in a dessert recipe, like this Vanilla Rice Pie with Strawberries or try Coffee and Cream Risotto.
Vanilla Rice Pie with Strawberries
Ingredients
Strawberry Jam (as per Ina Garten)
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 lemon
- 1.5 pints strawberries
Pie Dough
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 package active yeast
- 7 ounces all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 ouce butter melted
- 1 egg yolk
Pie Filling
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1 vanilla bean
- 3.5 ounces carnaroli rice or arborio rice
- 1 ounce sugar
- 2 eggs
Decoration
- white and dark chocolate
Instructions
Make the strawberry jam first.
- Zest and squeeze the lemon and transfer both to a small saucepan. Add the sugar and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Keep enough strawberries aside to use as decoration (if you like)
- Add the washed, hulled and quartered strawberries and bring to a boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes. When it starts to gel a little bit, allow it to cool.
Make the pie dough:
- Warm the milk and the sugar to lukewarm and allow the sugar to dissolve. Add the yeast and allow to ‘foam’.
- Place flour in a bowl, add salt, melted butter, egg yolk and milk-sugar-yeast mixture. Mix well into a supple dough. Cover and allow to rise for about 30 minutes.
Make the filling:
- Add milk and cream to a saucepan. Cut the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and transfer seeds and bean to the milk. Also add the rice and cook this mixture for about 20 minutes until the rice is done. Stir every now and then to avoid it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cool down.
- Mix eggs and sugar as much as you can and add to the cooled rice mixture.
Now it is time to put the pie together:
- Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a pie form with butter and cover bottom with parchment paper and butter that slightly.
- Roll the dough out on a flour covered surface until you have the size of the form + sides and the dough is about 1/5 inch thick. Place the dough in the pie form and prick some holes in the bottom.
- Pour the rice mixture into the dough and slide pie in the oven for about 30 minutes. Pie will be golden brown and done.
- Allow the pie to cool a little and then take it out of its form. The bottom has a kind of bread-dough consistency, so it should be easy to get out of the form.
- Once the pie is almost cool, poor the strawberry jam over the top and decorate with strawberry halves. When totally cool, use your vegetable peeler and divide some dark and white chocolate curls or shavings over the top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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