Pumpkin Rice Pudding.

The spices of fall...cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice.  All of them combined in many a fall dessert.  Usually the delicious dishes that come to mind are pumpkin pie, apple pie, poached pears, cinnamon rolls, warm breads, and spiced drinks.  How about rice pudding?  It doesn't really seem like it fits into that category. Well, it does when you make it pumpkin flavored rice pudding.  It's orange.  It's creamy.  It's filled with all those good fall flavors.  I have recently started trail running.  Running through the woods.  The days here lately have been absolutely perfect for it.  Cool, sunny days are absolutely perfect for running through winding trails, up and down hills, while being surrounded by trees filled with beautiful hues of red and yellow.  You may even stumble upon a doe and a fawn every now and then.  A day like this can only end with such a perfect fall snack as this one.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

From Ellie Krieger

makes a whole lot...like a casserole dish-full

2 cups water

1 cup arborio rice

3 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp cinnamon+more for serving

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped, (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  Bring water to a boil.  Stir in rice and cover.  Reduce heat to low and simmer about 20 minutes, until rice is cooked through.

In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, honey, pumpkin, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.  

While rice is still hot, add the pumpkin mixture to the rice and stir.  Cover and transfer to the oven (here I transferred the whole mixture to a casserole dish, cause I didn't know about sticking my saucepan in the oven!)  Bake until liquid has reduced by 1/3 and the mixture is bubbly, 45-50 minutes.  Remove from the oven and stir well.  If you haven't done it already, transfer the rice to a serving dish.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.  Serve with cinnamon and whipped cream.