Apple and cinnamon milk risotto

Now that we are eating our main meal at noon, it can be a bit of a free for all later in the day when we're hungry again. The idea is to have something light and sometimes that is fruit or yoghurt, at other times, particularly if the noon meal has been soup, we need something more.  Hanno loves milk rice and rice pudding so I came up with a variation on that theme and yesterday cooked apple and cinnamon milk risotto.

It's simple made using the normal risotto making technique but you can cheat at the end if you like. I did.

1. Start off by bringing four cups of milk to the boil and then keep it hot. 
2. In a separate pan, melt about a tablespoon of butter, and add two peeled and thinly sliced apples. Stir this until the apples start to caramelise slightly. Then pour in ¾ cup risotto (Arborio) rice and stir the rice so it's coated with the butter. 
3. Add sugar or honey to taste, two level tablespoons is enough for us.
4. Add a splash of vanilla extract and then two ladles of the hot milk. Stir this until the rice has been absorbed into the milk. It will take three or four minutes. 
5. Then add one ladle of hot milk and repeat the stirring until the milk has been absorbed. If you've been stirring all this time, the starch will have been released form the rice and you'll have a nice creamy looking rice, but it won't be cooked yet. 
6. Here is the cheat bit - if you don't have the time to stand at the stove stirring, place a lid on the pan and put it in the oven about 175C/350F for about 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Or you can stay at the stove stirring in the same way you'd make a traditional risotto, until the rice is cooked.

Serve this with stewed apples on top - I used a can of Ardmona Australian pie apples and two fresh Australian apples to help our apple farmers. Then sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and serve warm. It's a delicious winter pudding and very nice too, cold,  the following morning for breakfast.

Decluttering update
Today's item for my bins, this time the rubbish bin, is a pair of old slippers. They should have gone a few years ago.

Don't forget to link to your blog here in the comments if you're blogging about your decluttering. If not, and you want to talk about it, or get some advice, go here to the forum.  Many ladies have joined in on the forum thread so there is plenty of motivation to keep going right through the month.