Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding

I had not anticipated sharing a recipe for tapioca pudding this holiday season. Last week I stopped by the Fred Meyer store on the west end of town. If you live in Fairbanks you know that store has been a remodeling nightmare for months. Even though I live on the east end of town I often visited the west end store as they seem to have a better selection of products. In the last year I have only stopped in a couple of times because of the disaster the store has been. Last weekend I was in that part of town with 30 minutes to burn and my only task was to find an ATM machine. Since my bank isn't in that part of town, I decided to just run into Fred Meyer to check out the selection now that the remodel is near completion. I also figured I could just use the cash back option at the checkout, rather than pay the ATM fees. Well, this didn't end up being such a good deal as I ended up spending over $50 on items that weren't even on my grocery list. One of those items was a bag of small pearl tapioca. I love homemade pudding and started wondering why I have never made my own tapioca pudding. The recipe on the package seemed pretty easy, and turns out it really is super simple. I love the flecks of vanilla bean with the tapioca. You can also dress this pudding up with chopped nuts or dried fruit, maybe add some cinnamon or nutmeg for the holiday season. I prefer mine simple, and I actually like it best served warm or at room temperature. I recommend doubling the recipe as it seemed to disappear pretty quickly at our house.

Vanilla Bean Tapioca Pudding
adapted from Bob's Red Mill and 101 Cookbooks

1/3 cup small pearl tapioca
3 cups milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean

Place the tapioca and 3/4 cup of milk in a medium, heavy bottomed sauce pan. Let soak for 30 minutes. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the vanilla bean along its length with a knife and add that bean paste along with the bean itself to the pot. Add remaining milk, salt, sugar, and lightly beaten egg yolks to tapioca and stir continuously over medium heat until just barely boiling. Simmer uncovered over low heat for 10-15 minutes. Stir often. The time varies, but you will know it is done when the pudding thickens and the tapioca swells up. Remove from heat and let cool a bit before placing in a bowl. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving, or if you are strange like me; serve warm! This pudding does form a skin, if you would like skinless pudding, cover in plastic wrap making sure it it touching the pudding when you place it in the fridge. Makes 4 servings.