Roasted Pumpkin Risotto with Crispy Pancetta

It's no secret that I love at least two maybe three things (at least for this post!).

1. risotto
2. pancetta
3. Jamie Oliver

I love how Jamie makes risotto and for me, it always turns out great no matter which recipe of his I happen to follow.

Here what I did was take his basic risotto recipe and added my version of roasted pumpkin with sage and shallots- the pancetta I just crisped up in the oven with some fresh sage leaves and served it right on top. It's really a comforting and satisfying meal on a cold night.

To make the roasted pumpkin:

1 small sugar pumpkin, approx 2 lbs
4 shallots, peeled and quartered
2 good sprigs fresh sage leaves
2-3 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.
2. Peel, seed and cut pumpkin into 2 inch pieces (you can save the seeds and roast them like I did and serve a few on top as garnish!)
3. Toss pumpkin, shallots and sage in olive oil and spread out on a sheet pan.
4. Roast for approx. 30 minutes, turning about midway.

After you have roasted the pumpkin (and you can do this ahead of time, in fact it's easier that way) and it has cooled off, chop it a bit finer (yes it will be a bit mushy but this is okay). Add it to the risotto at Stage 3 and you are just about done.

It wouldn't be complete without some crispy pancetta to top it with (you could use bacon too) and all I did was bake a few pieces in my toaster oven at 375° while I was making the risotto.

Hope you enjoy!