cooking · Dinner

Pumpkin Bacon Rice

The curse of large cans of pumpkin would be using them up….so this dinner came out of a tub in the fridge glaring at me to use it up 😉

Pumpkin Bacon Rice

Ingredients:

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 yellow onion chopped
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
2 tsp cornstarch
1 1/4 cups lower sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
4 cups cooked white rice
4 thick strips bacon
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

To cook rice:
Bring 3 cups water to a boil. Add in 1 1/2 cups of white rice (I used Jasmine as I prefer the taste). Stir
well. Lower to low, cover tightly and let cook for 20 minutes. Take off the heat and let sit till needed.

Meanwhile cook the bacon in a large skillet till crispy. Drain the bacon on a layer of paper towels and
press out as much bacon grease as you can. Shred into small pieces.

In a large saucepan, melt the olive oil and butter together over medium heat. Add onion and nutmeg
and cook, stirring often, until the onion is turning golden.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and a little of the chicken broth until there are no lumps.

To the saucepan with the cooked onions, add the remaining broth, pumpkin and the cornstarch
mix. Let heat through and thicken. Add in the rice and bacon, stirring well.  Add in the Parmesan cheese
and 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper, stirring well. Put the lid on the saucepan and remove from heat,
then let sit for 5 minutes to meld flavors.

Add more cheese and salt, if desired.

Serves 3 to 4.

~Sarah

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