The Martin Cooking

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

• 2 cups water
• 1 cup arborio rice or another short-grain rice
• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup honey, brown sugar or maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sugar pumpkins, tops sliced off, seeds and pulp removed
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• freshly whipped cream, for serving

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid. Stir in the rice, cover and educe heat to low. Simmer rice about 20 minutes to al dente.
3. Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl whisk together the milk, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Rub the inside of the pumpkins with a tablespoon of butter and 2 tablespoons brown sugar each. Set them so they don't touch in a large roasting pan.
4. Stir the hot rice into the milk mixture. Divide evenly between the pumpkins keeping an even ration of rice to milk in each one. Put the lids on the pumpkins. Add boiling water to the bottom of the roasting pan until it reaches about an inch up the pumpkins. Cover the enire pan with foil.
5. Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 30 minutes until pumpkin is tender and most, but not all of the liquid is absorbed.
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Carefully scrape the sides of the pumpkins stirring the flesh into the pudding. If the rice pudding is too thick you can stir in a little heavy cream or whole milk. Serve with whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon or brown sugar.