Finland Food: Vispipuuro - "Whipped porridge"

Lingonberries definitely belong to my autumn: these tart and a bit bitter red berries taste good with both sweet and savoury foods. My all-time favorite lingonberry recipe is "whipped porridge": a semolina porridge cooked with lingonberry juice or with whole berries. This porridge is a traditional Finnish recipe. Usually it's eaten cold or at room-temperature, not hot as porridges usually. It's best with ice-cold milk.  I love the combination: like pink islands in the sea of milk :)


I suggest you sieve the berry skins out of the cooked liquid before adding the semolina, but in some traditional recipes the skins are included. Then the result is a bit more rustic and the porridge will taste stronger and the colour is also darker. I'd guess it's also the healthier option since you get all the fiber and nutrients in the berry skins. But I still prefer the sieved version as the taste isn't as bitter and colour is nicer  pale shade of pink. You can use the berry mash to doughs etc. if you want (I never do, I just throw it away, lazy me. My fridge is so small it hardly has capacity to store all the berries I buy at the end of summer.)

Whipped lingonberry semolina porridge (serves 2)

350 ml water
100 g lingonberries, mashed
30-40 g sugar or 1.5 Tbsp sugar + 1.5 Tbsp Stevia sweetener ( I used Hermesetas Stevia powder)
50 g semolina (wheat, not corn)

Boil the water and add the berries. Simmer for 5 minutes and then sieve it preserving the liquid. Press the berries to get any liquid remaining with the berry mash. You could also use a blender and then either sieve the mixture or skip the sieving-part totally.

Add sugar to the liquid (if using a sweetener I suggest you add it after the porridge is done), bring it to boil and add the semolina while whisking. Simmer for 15 minutes (during the first minutes stir it constantly so it doesn't stick to the pan).

Pour the porridge in a bowl, put the bowl in the sink that's been filled with cold water (that way the porridge cools a bit faster) and using a hand mixer (etc) whip until light, airy and pink. (If you're using  sweetener to substitute for (some) sugar, add it at this stage before the whisking).

Serve at room-temperature or cold with milk.






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