Aletria — Portuguese Sweet Vermicelli

A creamy sweet vermicelli pudding scented with lemon and cinnamon, traditionally served at Christmas.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 10 min
Cook: 25 min
Total: 35 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
❌
Serves
6 people
Difficulty
Easy

Ingredients

  • 150g fine vermicelli, broken into short pieces
  • 500ml water
  • Strip of lemon zest
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Pinch of salt
  • 750ml whole milk
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • Ground cinnamon, to decorate

Method

  1. Bring the water, lemon zest, cinnamon stick and salt to the boil. Add the vermicelli and cook for 5 minutes until almost tender.

  2. Add the milk and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until the vermicelli is soft and the mixture is creamy.

  3. Stir in the sugar and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lemon zest and cinnamon stick.

  4. Whisk the egg yolks with a ladleful of the hot mixture, then stir back into the pan over a very low heat for 2 minutes, without boiling.

  5. Spoon into a serving dish, cool and dust with cinnamon. Serve warm or chilled.