Sweet Risotto with Exotic Bananas
Submitted by dicosta
Baked sweet risotto with arborio rice, ripe bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon, and creme de cacao. A creamy, hands-off rice pudding dessert that bakes covered for one hour.
YIELD
1 batchPREP
20 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsForget standing at the stove stirring. This sweet risotto bakes in a covered casserole dish for an hour, and the oven does all the work. Arborio rice absorbs the milk slowly, swelling into that signature creamy, starchy texture without a single stir.
Layering the rice, chopped bananas, and brown sugar in thirds before pouring the milk over everything ensures even distribution. The bananas break down during baking, melting into the rice and adding natural sweetness and body to each spoonful.
Creme de cacao adds a subtle chocolate undertone that pairs beautifully with the cinnamon and caramelized banana. It’s a background note, not a strong chocolate flavor, just enough to make you wonder what that extra layer of richness is.
Kitchen Tips
- Use arborio rice specifically. Long-grain rice doesn’t release enough starch to create that creamy risotto texture.
- Keep the casserole covered the entire baking time. Uncovering lets steam escape and the top layer dries out before the rice is cooked through.
- The risotto thickens as it cools. Serve it warm for a pudding-like consistency, or eat it cold straight from the fridge for a firmer, denser dessert.
- Ripe bananas are essential. Firm, under-ripe bananas don’t break down and caramelize properly during baking.
Variations
- Coconut banana: Use coconut milk instead of regular milk and top with toasted coconut flakes for a tropical version.
- Chocolate risotto: Skip the bananas and add extra creme de cacao with a tablespoon of cocoa powder for a pure chocolate rice pudding.
- Rum raisin: Replace the creme de cacao with dark rum and fold in raisins with the banana layers.
Ingredients
Directions
Sprinkle about a third of the rice in the bottom of a 2-quart casserole dish.
Then sprinkle on a third of the bananas and a third of the sugar on top of them.
Continue sprinkling in thirds until you’re done. Pour on the milk and creme de cacao and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Cover and bake in a 375 degree pre-heated oven until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is tender, about 1 hour.
Serve warm.
We discovered that it also tastes good cold, standing in front of the refrigerator :-) You can substitute skim milk, soy milk or evaporated skim milk instead of whole milk.
Also, if exotic bananas aren’t available, substitute regular ones.
I used evaporated skim milk, regular bananas, and I think I left out the liqueur.
Arborio is the short-grained Italian rice traditionally used for risotto.
My regular supermarket does carry it. Perhaps another kind of rice would work.
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