Pumpkin Saffron Rice is a Moroccan style rice side dish with bits and bobs of pumpkin, raisins, pine nuts, and spice.
Pumpkin Saffron Rice
By Sue Lau
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This month for Foodie Extravaganza, Lynda Hardy of Reviews, Chews & How-To’s is hosting and decided on the theme of pumpkin. As a group of bloggers, we post once a month on a unified holiday theme. Being October, of course, pumpkin is perfect, as well as being National Pumpkin Month.
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I quickly narrowed down my choice of what to make to being a side dish, and from there, rice. I love to cook rice and haven’t got to eat much of it recently. The dilemma for me was that I wanted something with spice to complement the pumpkin- which of course is easy enough.
I just had to decide if I wanted to do something Moroccan or something Jamaican. They are similar enough- but the Jamaican would be definitely hot and spicy. Since I am doing a couple of upcoming spicy posts next week (Honey Sriracha Peanuts and Ghost Cheddar Popcorn) I thought maybe I would lay off the fire and do the Jamaican one some other time, especially if I can make some Jerk Chicken around the same time.
For the rest of dinner with this, I made some roasted chicken with rotisserie rub and had some green beans on the side.
We will have more of that chicken tomorrow for lunch with some Blood-Orange Cranberry Sauce I made with extra fruit from an upcoming event called Freaky Fruits, which is also next week. For that I will be posting recipes for Chayote and Cuitlacoche Enchiladas, and a Passion Fruit Zombie cocktail.
I’ll try to get the cranberry sauce posted very soon along with yet another recipe I did out of extra Freaky Fruits, which was Papaya Halwa.
Pumpkin Saffron Rice
Pumpkin Saffron Rice
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed saffron
- 1/2 cup boiling water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- 2-1/4 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups diced fresh pumpkin or butternut squash
- 1/4 cup golden raisins
- 1-1/2 cups basmati rice rinsed in a strainer until the water runs clear
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon minced fresh Italian parsley
Instructions
- Crush saffron and drop into the half cup of boiling water and let steep for thirty minutes (like tea).
- Heat the oil and butter in a saucepan and add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onion softens and starts to caramelize.
- Stir in the chicken stock, steeping saffron with soaking water, salt, pepper, cinnamon, diced pumpkin, and raisins.
- Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat, simmering for ten minutes.
- Add the rice to the pot and stir; cover and continue to simmer over low heat for twenty minutes more without lifting the lid.
- Remove from heat; stir in the pine nuts and parsley, top with a clean dish towel and then the lid, letting it sit like that off the heat for about ten minutes to absorb excess steam and make it fluffy.
- Lift lid and fluff rice with a fork, then serve at once.
Notes
Nutrition
#FoodieExtravaganza
National Pumpkin Month
Hosted by Lynda Hardy
- 15 Minute Ravioli with Pumpkin Cream Sauce from Faith, Hope, Love & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
- Apple Pumpkin Bundt Cake (Vegan) from Veggie Fun Kitchen
- Butter Roasted Pumpkin Seeds from A Day in the Life on the Farm
- Chicken, Pumpkin & Bean Enchiladas from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Coconut Curry Roast Pumpkins from Food Lust People Love
- DIY Pumpkin Spice Latte with Almond Milk from Hardly a Goddess
- Low-Carb Pumpkin Scones from Reviews, Chews & How-Tos
- No-Bake Pumpkin Cookies from Caroline’s Cooking
- Pumpkin Saffron Rice from Palatable Pastime
- Roasted Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin Fries) from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
- Vegan Malaysian Red Pumpkin Sabzi from Sneha’s Recipe
You Might Also Like:
Thai Pumpkin Curry
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Old-Fashioned Pumpkin Bread
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Pumpkin Chip Cookies
Pumpkin version of Toll House chip cookies.
Traditional Pumpkin Pie
The recipe from the canned Libby’s pumpkin puree, in case you’ve misplaced it.
Pumpkin Spice Peanut Butter Cookies
Crisp peanut butter cookies with hints of pumpkin, spice and Autumn.
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Palatable Recipes
Loving this rice dish. Can’t wait to try it.
True story: Bill tried the blood orange cranberry sauce and said “I’ve eaten all sorts of cranberry sauce with orange anything, and this is the best ever.” And a few bites later, after he’d eaten some of the saffron rice, I pose the question I am certain of the answer before I even ask:
“So….which of these is your favorite?”
#RiceRiceBaby 😀
I think it’s my best saffron rice yet.
That rice is gorgeous! Love the generous amount of safron in there!
This dish is gorgeous. I love the generous amount of saffron in there.
What a beautiful side dish! Holding this in mind for sometime this month.
The rice is amazing love the golden saffron in it.
Oh I am definitely going to try this but with veggie broth instead! It looks so delicious:)
Veggie broth is fabulous in this as well! I like making my own from vegetable bin trims and scraps. I save the bits and bobs in a freezer baggie until I have enough to simmer away. I’ve made some of the best broths that way!
This is so pretty and the raisins in there are such a nice add- looks yummy!