Pumpkin Bacon Risotto Recipes

BACON RISOTTO

Steps:

• Cook and stir the diced bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon and reserve.
• Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a saucepan over high heat; reduce heat to low to keep the chicken stock hot.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion begins to turn golden brown at the edges, about 2 minutes. Pour in the rice and stir until the rice is coated in butter and has started to toast, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; stir in one-third of the hot chicken stock and continue stirring until the rice has absorbed the liquid and turned creamy. Repeat this process twice more, stirring constantly. Stirring in the broth should take 15 to 20 minutes in all. When finished, the rice should be tender, yet slightly firm.
• Remove the risotto from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter, the Parmesan cheese, and the reserved bacon. Season to taste with salt and pepper before serving.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO WITH BACON (INSTANT POT)

Steps:

• Press the Sauté button on the Instant Pot. Add the bacon and cook for 10 minutes or until crisp. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and place on a plate lined with a paper towel.
• Add the onion to the bacon grease in the pot and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds more.
• Add the sage, nutmeg, arborio rice, vegetable stock and pumpkin to the Instant Pot and stir until combined.
• Secure the lid and close the venting valve. Cook at high pressure for 8 minutes. The Instant Pot will take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure, then will begin the cooking time. Quick release the pressure when the cooking time has finished.
• Remove the lid and stir in the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper, to taste.
• Serve immediately topped with the crumbled bacon and chopped parsley. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN & BACON RISOTTO

Steps:

• Heat oil in a pan and cook onion until soft. Add garlic, bacon and rice and stir to coat in oil.
• Add 1/2 cup stock and cook over a low heat until absorbed, stirring constantly. Repeat with remaining stock making sure to add only in 1/2 cup batches.
• Add soup, stir well and continue to cook, stirring constantly until all the liquid has absorbed. This process will take around 20 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese and parsley. Serve immediately with a fresh green salad.

PUMPKIN RISOTTO WITH BACON

Steps:

• Chop the pumpkin into 2cm cubes and put it on an oven tray. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes on 180 degrees celsius.
• While the pumpkin is roasting, make the risotto. In a large frying pan add oil, bacon, onion and garlic. Gently sauté over medium-high heat until the onions are cooked but not coloured.
• Add rice and cook for a further 2 minutes while stirring constantly until rice grains become glossy and lightly toasted. The rice might stick a little to the bottom of the pan and that's fine, just use a wooden spoon to unstick them as much as possible.
• Turn the heat down to low-medium so that when liquid is added it is still gently bubbling. Add 1 cup of the chicken stock, stir to mix together and let simmer until it almost fully absorbed - approximately 5 minutes. Stir, then add remaining stock, 1 cup at a time. Repeat until the rice almost absorbs all liquid. You can constantly stir through this process if you prefer but I tend to take a shortcut and not do this, only when liquid is added.
• Add the baby spinach and mix through to wilt.
• Turn off the heat. Add the cream and parmesan cheese, mix together and let sit for about 2-5 minutes until mixture thickens.
• At this stage, the pumpkin should be caramelised on the edges and cooked through. Remove from oven and add into the risotto mixture and mix through.
• Serve hot with chopped parsley on top and a fresh leafy green side salad.

BACON & ROAST PUMPKIN RISOTTO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan forced).
• Cut the brown onions into wedges. Cut the butternut pumpkin into bite-sized chunks.
• Place the onion and pumpkin on to a lined oven tray.Drizzle with 1 tbs olive oil, sprinkle with Nan's special seasoning (*see notes) and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Roast until tender, approximately 20-25 minutes.
• While the onion and pumpkin are roasting, grate the zucchini.
• In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbs of olive oil over a high heat. Cook the diced bacon until golden (approximately 4-5 minutes). Add the garlic & herb seasoning, zucchini, arborio rice, vegetable stock and the water. Bring to the boil and then remove from the heat.
• Transfer the risotto to a baking dish. Cover it tightly with foil. Bake until the liquid has absorbed and the rice is 'al dente' (approximately 24-28 minutes).
• While the risotto is baking, roughly chop the parsley. Zest the lemon and then slice into wedges.
• When the risotto is ready, stir through the lemon zest, baby spinach leaves, butter, grated parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon juice.
• Gently stir through the roasted onion and pumpkin. Season to taste. Top with the flaked almonds.
• Serve with the chopped parsley and lemon wedges.

PUMPKIN, SAGE, CHESTNUT AND BACON RISOTTO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Halve pumpkin lengthwise, and remove seeds; rinse seeds, drain, and reserve. Cut pumpkin lengthwise into thick slices, and spread in a layer across a large baking sheet. (If using squash, cut into quarters.) Sprinkle pumpkin with olive oil, and set aside. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the coriander seeds until crushed. Sprinkle over pumpkin along with salt and pepper, and bake until soft, about 40 minutes.
• Remove pumpkin from oven (leave oven on), and spread bacon over it. In a small bowl, combine reserved seeds, chestnuts, sage and salt and pepper to taste. Add tablespoon olive oil, and mix well. Sprinkle over pumpkin and bacon. Place back in oven until bacon is crisp, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove pumpkin from oven. Scrape bacon, chestnuts, sage and pumpkin seeds onto a small plate; reserve. Finely chop about half the pumpkin. Chop other half so that it is slightly chunky; reserve.
• Place chicken stock in a small pan over medium-low heat. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to very low to keep warm. Place a large saucepan over medium heat, and add tablespoon olive oil, shallots, celery and a pinch of salt. Stir, cover, and cook for 3 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, and add rice. Stir constantly until rice is translucent, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in wine until it is absorbed, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Begin adding broth to rice, a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly. Allow each ladleful to be absorbed before adding next; process will take about 20 minutes. When ready, rice will be soft with a slight bite. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Remove rice from heat. Add chopped pumpkin, and stir vigorously until mixed; fold in pumpkin chunks. Mix in butter and Parmesan. Place a lid over the saucepan, and let sit for 2 minutes. To serve, place a portion on each of 6 serving plates. Top each portion with crumbled bacon, and sprinkle with mixture of chestnuts, sage and pumpkin seeds. Add a dash more cheese. Garnish each plate with a dollop of mascarpone if desired, and serve immediately.