White Chocolate Rice Pudding with Dried Cherry Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3/4 cup medium-grain rice
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup white chocolate morsels
• Dried Cherry Sauce
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Preparation

1. Combine water and rice in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.
2. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan. Stir seeds, pod, sugar, half-and-half, and salt into rice. Cook over medium-low heat 30 minutes, stirring often. Remove vanilla bean pod. Add white chocolate morsels, stirring until melted. Let cool 5 minutes. Spoon rice pudding into 8 individual serving dishes. If not serving immediately, cover and chill. When ready to serve, top with Dried Cherry Sauce, and sprinkle with almonds.