When you wake up, look at the thermometer, and it reads 20 degrees Celsius below zero; you want to eat something warm. And preferably creamy and sweet. Enter long-cooked porridge made with fresh almond milk, fruit and finished with a grating of fresh nutmeg. There’s nothing better to start the day!

Yield: 3 servings

What you need:

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/8 cup almonds (or 30 almonds if you feel like counting them out)
• 3 cups water + more for soaking the almonds
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or more if you like)
• pinch of salt
• 2 pears, chopped into 1/2” dice (peeled if you like, I usually leave it on)
• 1/8 cup golden raisins
• freshly grated nutmeg to serve (optional)

What you do:

1. Soak the almonds overnight in lots of fresh water to cover.
2. In the morning rinse, drain and peel the almonds and place them in a blender (preferably high-speed) with the water, vanilla extract and pinch of salt. Process until frothy and smooth – this will take many minutes with a regular blender and go significantly more quickly with a high-speed model. Alternatively, if you don’t want to go through the trouble of making your own almond milk, you can use 3-3/4 cups of your favourite almond or oat milk instead. However, at some point, do try making your own milk for this if you never have, it will blow your taste buds out through the stratosphere.
3. In a saucepan or cooking pot that you have a cover for, combine the almond milk (no need to strain), pears and raisins.
4. Depending on how much time you have, you have a couple of choices. First choice, bring to a boil and lower heat to medium low cooking – stirring regularly and with lid ajar – until done to your liking: roughly 20 minutes. Second choice, cover the pot and set the heat to low, letting the oats slow cook – this is the way I usually do it – stir once or twice as you cook, mostly toward the end: roughly 40 minutes. Third choice, slow cook as long as you feel like, monitoring the water level: not sure of the time on that one.
5. Serve hot or warm with freshly grated nutmeg if desired; the porridge will thicken substantially as it cools.