Pumpkin and Mushroom Risotto (with bacon!)
This Pumpkin and Mushroom Risotto is decadent, heaven on a plate! This perfect, creamy pumpkin risotto is made without wine and topped with mushrooms and crisp bacon. Making risotto is a lot easier than you think, too! So go on...make this and impress your friends and family with this ultimate comfort food!
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken broth or stock one 32 oz. paper container
- 1 15 oz can pumpkin purée See Note 1
- 8 slices of bacon, cut into small pieces (about 1/4" thick)
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped use your favorite variety
- 1 1/2 cups arborio rice ("risotto rice")
- 4 garlic cloves, minced the best garlic chopper!
- 1 tsp kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1 tsp dried thyme or 2 tsp fresh thyme
- 1/2 cup half and half
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- chopped chives or fresh parsley (optional, for topping)
- pinch of nutmeg (optional) about 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together chicken stock (or broth) and pumpkin until smooth. Set aside.
- In a large, non stick stockpot (8 quart or bigger) over medium heat, add bacon pieces. Cook 7-8 minutes until bacon is nearly done and starting to crisp. Then, add mushrooms and cook 2 minutes more until mushrooms are tender.
- With a slotted spoon, remove bacon and mushrooms from the pot, making sure some bacon grease still remains (you only need a few teaspoons of bacon grease, so if there is more, feel free to discard it).
- To the pot with the remaining bacon grease, add rice, garlic and thyme. Stir, so bacon grease coats the rice. Cook for about 2 minutes until the garlic starts to soften.
- Make sure your pot is over medium-low heat. Then, start adding your chicken stock and pumpkin mixture to the rice, one cup at a time. Stir for about 30 seconds, then you can leave it alone for 2-3 minutes, then come back and stir another 30 seconds until liquid is absorbed into the rice (see photos in the post above to see what it should look like before adding more stock/pumpkin). The process of the liquid absorbing takes roughly 4-6 minutes.
- Repeat the process of adding a little broth/pumpkin mixture (one cup at a time) until the liquid has been absorbed and the rice is cooked through. This process takes about 25-30 minutes. If your rice is still undercooked, turn the heat up a bit and add another 1/2 cup of chicken stock. Stir and cook for another 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in half and half and Parmesan cheese and heat through until half and half is fully incorporated into the dish and cheese is melted (about one minute). Taste, and season with salt if needed. Add a pinch of nutmeg, if using.
- Plate up the risotto and top with lots of the bacon/mushroom mixture and chopped chives or parsley, if using! You can also opt to stir the bacon/mushroom mixture right into the risotto!
Notes
Note 1: Make sure you are using pure canned pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling!
Nutrition
Calories: 650kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 32gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 73mgSodium: 2508mgPotassium: 667mgFiber: 5.5gSugar: 5gCalcium: 346mgIron: 5mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!