Porkkanalaatikko Recipe (Finnish Carrot Casserole)
A traditional Christmas dish from Finland, this creamy Carrot Casserole (Porkkanalaatikko) is an excellent side dish for grilled or roasted meat. Or if you want to do it like the locals, serve it with baked ham. Yum!
Servings: 8
Calories: 178kcal
Equipment
- Medium-Sized Saucepan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup short-grain or medium-grain rice
- 1 & 1/2 cups milk
- 1/2 kg carrots (about 1 lb), peeled and finely grated
- 2 tbsp light syrup
- 1/2 tsp ginger, fresh and grated
- 1 large egg
- 6 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
- salt and ground white pepper, to season
Instructions
Preparing rice:
- Using a medium-sized saucepan, combine rice with 1/2 cup of water and 1/2 cup of milk.
- Cover with a lid and bring to a boil.
- Add the remaining 1 cup of milk, cover, and simmer until the rice turns soft (stir occasionally). It normally takes about 25 minutes.
- Take the rice off the heat and set aside to cool.
Assembling porkkanalaatikko:
- Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Using a large mixing bowl, combine rice with milk, syrup, salt and pepper, and ginger. Mix.
- Add carrots and beaten egg. Mix evenly.
- Transfer casserole mixture into an ovenproof baking dish, leaving some room on top.
- Sprinkle top with breadcrumbs.
- Add butter and use a spoon to make indentations (or decorations) on top of porkkanalaatikko.
Baking creamy carrot casserole:
- Place the dish in the middle of the oven for 50 to 55 minutes, or until the top turned darker in color.
- Take the carrot casserole out of the oven and set aside for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy your porkkanalaatikko!
Video
Notes
- Cook's Tip #1: Short-grain or medium-grained rice is the best type to use for this Finnish carrot casserole recipe --- I generally use arborio rice when I make porkkanalaatikko at home.
- Cook's Tip #2: Do not forget to mix the rice occasionally when you're simmering it with the milk. It helps the rice from sticking at the bottom of the pan.
- Cook's Tip #3: Make sure the rice and milk mixture is completely cooled before adding the rest of the porkkanalaatikko ingredients.
- Variation #1: You can use powdered ginger if you don't have fresh ones.
- Variation #2: If you don't have light syrup, you can use molasses, honey, dark syrup, or brown sugar as alternatives. However, if you are using brown sugar, you have to mix them with the milk mixture to ensure they had dissolved when you add the carrots.
Nutrition
Calories: 178kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 35mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 297mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 10637IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 1mg