Porkkanalaatikko

Ingredients

• 2 lbCarrotpeeled, finely grated or boiled until soft and puréed
• 4⅔ ozshort-grain ricepudding rice, cooked into a porridge
• 1⅔ cupsmilkfor cooking the rice, sometimes mixed with cream
• ¾ cupwaterfor starting the rice
• 2eggbeaten, for binding
• 2 tbspsyruplight or dark syrup, or brown sugar instead
• 1 tspsalt
• ½ tspgingerground or freshly grated
• 1 pinchwhite pepperground
• 1 pinchnutmegground (optional)
• 6 tbspbreadcrumbsfor sprinkling over the top
• 3 tbspbutterfor greasing the dish and as flakes or melted with the crumbs on top

Method

1. Bring the short-grain rice to the boil with the water and some of the milk, then let it simmer until the liquid has been absorbed.
2. Add the rest of the milk and simmer for 20–25 minutes, stirring now and then, until the rice turns into a soft porridge. Take it off the heat and let it cool.
3. Meanwhile, peel the carrots and either grate them finely or boil them in salted water until soft and purée them.
4. Heat the oven to 175–355 °F and grease a baking dish with butter.
5. Stir together the rice porridge, carrots, beaten eggs, syrup, salt, ginger, white pepper and, if you like, nutmeg until well combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
6. Spoon the mixture into the dish and score the surface with the back of a spoon. Toss the breadcrumbs with melted butter and scatter them over the top, or sprinkle on the crumbs and dot with flakes of butter.
7. Bake for 50–60 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the mixture has set. If it browns too quickly, cover it with baking paper or foil.
8. Let the casserole rest for 10–15 minutes before serving so it slices cleanly.

Tips and variations

The carrots can be grated raw, boiled and puréed, or a mix of both. Nutmeg on its own can stand in for the ginger. Without rice and egg, the puréed carrots are simply bound with milk or cream, butter, breadcrumbs and syrup. For a vegan version, use millet instead of rice, coconut milk, vegan butter and cinnamon, and serve with fresh herbs. Other variations: half sweet potato and half carrot purée with smetana in place of the rice porridge, or Parmesan in both the mixture and the crumb topping with a little mustard powder. Serve it alongside Christmas ham or turkey, or on ordinary days with chicken or fish.