Semolina with stewed apple
Milk pudding done properly, with a ribbon of stewed apple
Doubles in a wider pan for the semolina. Stew a second apple alongside rather than trying to fit twice the fruit in one small pan.
Semolina is the pudding equivalent of a held hand. Fine grains cooked slowly in whole milk turn thick and faintly glossy, closer to a savoury béchamel than to the gritty school-dinner memory most people carry, and butter and a spoon of sugar are all it needs beyond that. The apple alongside is not a garnish but half the dish, peeled, cored and deseeded, then stewed down with sugar and a splash of water until it collapses into a soft ribbon you can push through a sieve if any fleck of skin worries you. Keep the two apart in the bowl rather than stirring them together, so the first spoonful is milk-warm and plain and the next is bright with fruit.
Ingredients
Contains: Gluten, Milk
- 1apple, peeled, cored, deseeded and cut into chunks
- 1 tbspcaster sugar, for the apple
- 300 mlwhole milk
- 30 gsemolina, fine
- 15 gunsalted butter
- 1 tbspcaster sugar, for the semolina
Method
Put the apple in a small pan with the sugar for the apple and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover and cook gently for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the apple has collapsed into a soft, glossy stew with no pieces holding their shape.
Mash it smooth with a fork, or push it through a sieve if any fleck of skin has survived the peeling.
Pour the milk into a second small pan and bring it to a bare simmer over a medium heat.
Sprinkle in the semolina in a thin stream, whisking constantly, then turn the heat down low and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often, until it has thickened into a smooth, glossy porridge with no floury taste left.
If it thickens faster than you expect, loosen it with a splash more milk. It should coat the back of a spoon, not stand a spoon up.
Stir in the butter and the sugar for the semolina until the butter has melted through, then take the pan off the heat and taste for sweetness.
Spoon the semolina into a warm bowl and lay a ribbon of the stewed apple over one side rather than stirring it through.
Watch-points
- Peel, core and deseed the apple before it goes anywhere near the pan, then stew it until it collapses. Push it through a sieve first if there is any doubt about a scrap of skin.
- Leave the apple free of spice. Cinnamon is a common habit here and it is one this diet does not allow.
Stoma note: A smooth, milk-based breakfast that sits gently and adds bulk without adding fibre. Good for a morning when appetite is low.
Make it more nourishing
- Whisk 2 tablespoons of skimmed milk powder into the cold milk before it heats, for extra protein and calories you will not taste.
- Stir in an extra 10 g of butter once the semolina is off the heat, so it melts through glossy.
- Add a tablespoon of double cream to the stewed apple as it finishes cooking.
Swaps
- Instead of apple, use tinned pears in juice, warmed through and mashed
- no peeling needed and the texture is already soft
- Instead of whole milk, use half milk, half single cream
- makes the semolina richer without changing the method