Semolina porridge without lumps, with butter and cinnamon sugar
The childhood breakfast that still beats cereal from a box: semolina cooked in milk, smooth and creamy, with a piece of butter, cinnamon sugar or a spoon of plum butter. The whole secret of no lumps fits in one sentence: the semolina goes into cold milk, not boiling. Ten minutes, one saucepan, three servings.
Your own work in that: 10 min.
- Semolina into cold milk 2 min
- Cooking 6 min
- Butter and toppings 2 min
Step by step
0 / 4 doneStir the semolina into cold milk
Pour cold milk into a saucepan, add the semolina, sugar and a pinch of salt. Stir with a whisk or spoon until the semolina is evenly dispersed. The pan is not on the heat yet.
Ingredients: 750 ml milk · 6 tbsp semolina · 1 tbsp sugar or honey · 1 pinch salt · 20 g butter
TipLumps form when dry grains hit boiling liquid: the starch on the surface sets instantly and seals a dry centre. In cold milk every grain soaks separately and then only thickens.
Cold milk, semolina, stirred before the heatHeat, stirring
Set the pan over medium heat and stir without stopping, reaching the bottom and corners with the spoon. After 3–4 minutes the semolina begins to thicken and the milk to bubble. From the boil, cook another 2–3 minutes, until thick and smooth.
TipConstant stirring matters more than the time: semolina catches on the bottom in a second, and scorched milk flavours the whole pan. A small heavy-based saucepan helps.
Medium heat, stir to the boil and a moment beyondAdd the butter and check the thickness
Take off the heat, stir in the butter. The porridge should fall from the spoon in a thick ribbon; it thickens more as it cools, so slightly too thin beats too thick. Loosen a stiff one with a spoon of milk.
Butter at the end, a thick ribbon from the spoonServe
Pour into bowls. Mix the sugar with the cinnamon and sprinkle over, a spoon of plum butter and fruit beside. Eat warm: cold semolina sets into a pudding, which children like too, but that is another dish.
Ingredients: 1 tbsp sugar · ½ tsp cinnamon · 3 tbsp plum butter or jam · 100 g raspberries or other fruit
Cinnamon sugar, plum butter, fruit
Before you start
Chocolate
A spoon of cocoa and one more spoon of sugar into the cold milk, and 30 g chopped dark chocolate at the end: chocolate semolina that no shop dessert can beat.
On water with butter
Half water, half milk: the lighter version, and the butter at the end keeps it creamy. Made with water alone, turn it savoury, with butter and pepper, as a side for goulash.
A skin on top
It forms when the porridge cools uncovered. If you make it ahead, cover with film touching the surface and reheat with a spoon of milk.
