Name: Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese, Pancetta & Cranberries
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 2 cups rice; 6 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock; 3/4 cups pumpkin purée ((find recipe in the notes of my Mini Pumpkin Pizza recipe)); 1 small onion (, small cubes); 8 pancetta slices; 60 g goat cheese (crumbled); 4 springs thyme + some for garnish; 1/3 cup dried cranberries; black pepper

Jump to Recipe

I’m totally in love with each single bite of this delicious pumpkin risotto!

So true… Comforting and warm like a hug. Ok, I’m getting sentimental, but that’s what rainy days are all about, right? Squeezing under a soft wool blanket, watching TV or playing board games. Watching Breaking Bad and eating tons of cooked chestnut is basically all we do these evenings. I know, I know we’re so lazy! That’s what cold and rain does to us. Um, yeah, autumn is awesome. Anyone else so psyched about that?

And peeps, my weird pregnancy smell and taste is gone and I can cook as much as I want now 🙂 Happy me! My weight is probably gonna start going up more quickly now, but well, that’s supposed to happen eventually 😛 My bump is already visible and I can’t stop caressing it 🙂

Ok, enough on my prego belly. I’ve moved on from eating pasta almost every day to cooking normally, so I prepared a creamy pumpkin risotto with some delicious goodies on top.

Risotto is really a very simple dish. That’s what’s so great about it. Easy and quick to make, but add some good seasonal ingredients to it and it gets so sophisticated.

Never had a pumpkin risotto? It’s about time to start, because pumpkin adds such a nice flavor and creaminess to the risotto. What autumn recipes are all about is combining sweet with savory, so I’ve done that again. Pumpkin by itself is sweet, but I’ve added some dried cranberries on top for some sweet crunch. And who doesn’t love a little crispy panchetta and goat cheese with all of that.

This is the fanciest cozy meal I’ve had this autumn, for real!

I promise people are gonna love you for cooking them pumpkin risotto, whatever goodies you choose to put in 🙂

Pumpkin Risotto with Goat Cheese, Pancetta & Cranberries

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

2 cups rice
6 1/2 cup vegetable or chicken stock
3/4 cups pumpkin purée (find recipe in the notes of my Mini Pumpkin Pizza recipe)
1 small onion , small cubes
8 pancetta slices
60 g goat cheese crumbled
4 springs thyme + some for garnish
1/3 cup dried cranberries
black pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175 °C.
Place pancetta slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake them for 10 minutes or until they get golden and crunchy. Transfer them to a paper towel lined plate, to remove the excess fat. When it cools crumble it. Keep the fat that is left in the baking tray for later.
Wash rice under cold water and drain.
In a sauce pan boil the stock, remove from heat and leave covered.
Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the remaining pancetta fat and if necessary add a tablespoon of olive oil. Add onions and cook for 2 minutes until they get soft. Add the drained rice and fry for additional 3-5 minutes stirring constantly. When the rice gets translucent add pumpkin purée, thyme, pinch of black pepper and 1 laddle of stock (or more). You want the rice to just be covered with liquid. Cook stirring occasionally until the liquid has dissapeared into the rice. Then add another laddle of stock. Continue doing that for about 20-25 minutes or until the rice is al dente. With the last laddle of stock add half of the pancetta crumbles.
Serve immediately and top with the rest of the pancetta crumbles, goat cheese, dried cranberries and more thyme.