I used to make risotto a lot, but it is so time consuming, that I haven’t made it in a couple of years.  But I’ve been craving it, so I decided to figure out a better way.  Here is what I did.  You’ll want to cut this in half or quarters if you’re not feeding a very large family.

Cook over medium heat til cooked through

• 16 italian sausage links cut into bite sized pieces.  (Brett said they were too big and should be cut even smaller).  

In a separate skillet, over medium heat cook

• 2 red onions, diced
• extra virgin olive oil to coat (maybe 1/4 cup??)

Cook until onions are soft and add

• 4 Tbsp butter (can use up to 8 Tbsp or olive oil if you don’t like butter)

Once the butter is melted, add

• 4 cups arborio rice (do not use a different kind of rice.  Most supermarkets carry arborio.)

Stir for 5 – 7 minutes til rice is coated in oil and starts to cook a bit.  Then add

• two cups sherry cooking wine or any wine you have available

Cook until wine is absorbed by the rice.  

Set a crockpot on high and add

• cooked sausage (drained)
• rice and onion mixture
• 12 cups chicken broth

Cook on high until all liquid is absorbed.  I did not stir it.  It took 4 hours, but my crockpot was very full.  I would imagine it should take a normal amount about 2 – 2.5 hours. 

Once all the liquid is absorbed add

• 2 large cans (or 4 small cans) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie puree)
• 1 cup parmesan cheese
• salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Stir well and serve.  You could heat it more, but ours was plenty hot.

Served with a nice salad it was super!!