Pumpkin Risotto

The nicest Italian restaurant in town has nothing on your kitchen when it comes to this gorgeous pumpkin risotto. It's one of those labor-of-love savory pumpkin recipes with a truly delicious payoff—a creamy risotto with smoky bacon and fragrant sage. Frying the sage leaves in the bacon drippings is a chef's trick that's actually very easy to do. It does double duty here, flavoring the whole dish with just enough sage and making a pretty garnish. Wow your friends for an Italian dinner party, make it for your special someone (or have them make it for you), or add to your fall recipes this season. It's filling enough to make a meal on its own, but you can also serve it as a seasonal side dish for Thanksgiving.

Is risotto just fancy rice?

Risotto isn't a specific variety rice, rather it's made with rice! It may seem fancy, but it's easy to master with pantry staples. Risotto is made by stirring broth into rice, a little at a time, to achieve a thick, creamy consistency. 

What do you serve with pumpkin risotto?

Pair it with some good, crusty bread and a simple fall salad to make it the star of the meal, or serve it as a side alongside a roast chicken, pork tenderloin, or even your Thanksgiving turkey and all the fixings. 

Can you use regular rice in risotto?

A risotto calls for arborio or short-grain rice, which has a lot more starch than long-grain rice. That starch helps it absorb more of the broth and become creamy as it cooks. Long-grain rice cooked with broth is usually called a pilaf and won't be as creamy.

Do you need to heat the broth for risotto?

Heating the broth first is worth doing for a great risotto. Warm broth won't slow down the cooking as it's added to the rice so it stays creamy and cooks a little bit faster. 

What do you do with leftover canned pumpkin? 

There are so many ways to use up a can of pumpkin. If you have just a little, try stirring into the batter for pumpkin pancakes, adding to a pumpkin chili, or spreading on toast with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar.