Chicken, Pumpkin & Baby Spinach Risotto

A bowl of risotto with pumpkin, chicken, bacon and spinach.

Chicken, Pumpkin & Baby Spinach Risotto

This Creamy Chicken, Pumpkin, Bacon & Baby Spinach Risotto is one of our most popular risotto recipes! A kid-friendly favourite that the whole family will love!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 25

Resting time 10

Total Time 40

Servings serves

Calories 552kcal

Author Lucy & Lauren

Equipment

Thermomix

Ingredients

80 g parmesan cheese
2 teaspoon minced garlic or 1 garlic clove, minced
1 onion halved
30 g olive oil
100 g bacon chopped
250 g arborio rice
100 g white wine
2 teaspoon chicken stock powder or 1 tbs homemade chicken stock
300 g skinless chicken breast cubed into 2-3cm pieces
600 g water
200 g cooked pumpkin see notes
80 g baby spinach

Instructions

Place parmesan cheese into the bowl and grate on Speed 8 for 10 seconds. Remove and set aside. Wash and dry the bowl.
Place garlic and onion in Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on Speed 5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Add olive oil and bacon and saute for 5 minutes, 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed 1 (MC off).
Insert the butterfly whisk. Add arborio rice and wine into the bowl. Cook 100 degrees, 3 minutes, Reverse, Speed 1 (MC off).
Add the chicken stock powder, diced chicken and water and cook for 18 minutes, 100 degrees, Reverse, Speed 1.
Place the risotto into the Thermoserver, add the pumpkin, baby spinach and half of the parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
Place into a ThermoServer (or similar) and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
Serve with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Notes

RECIPE NOTES & TIPS

Pumpkin - you can either chop the pumpkin into very small (1-2 cm) pieces and place into the Varoma when you add the bacon. Allow to steam while the risotto cooks. Alternatively you can cook the pumpkin in the microwave or use leftover roast pumpkin.

This is a super versatile recipe that allows for many variations:

use chicken thighs in place of chicken breast
omit the bacon
add some frozen peas in the last 2 minutes of cooking
use rocket in place of baby spinach
omit the white wine and replace with extra water

If you have leftover roast pumpkin (from dinner the night before!), you can use that instead of cooking pumpkin in the Thermomix. Simply cut it into small chunks and place in the ThermoServer before pouring the risotto over the top.

It’s important to allow the risotto to rest for 10 minutes before serving. After cooking, the risotto will be quite liquidy. The risotto will thicken when resting.

A ThermoServer is the perfect thing for resting your risotto and allowing it to thicken. You can use the Thermomix branded ThermoServer or any brand of insulated stainless steel container.

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