Thank you to Chidinma, the founder of Fruitful Kitchen, for guest posting for me today. This recipe for slow cooked risotto with turkey and butternut squash looks amazing!
During these cold and long days, I love to break out my slow cooker. There is nothing better than coming home to a warm meal. I particularly love makings this with butternut squash during this season since it is ripe and yummy.
While I picked out my groceries the other day, I realized I hadn’t made risotto in a while, but I just don’t have enough time to make it. This is why, I decided to combine some of my favorite ingredients in the slow cooker.
Today, I’ll share with you one of my all-time favorite fall and winter meals: risotto with butternut squash and ground turkey. All you need is to have your slow cooker handy and you will end up with a delicious result.
I prefer to use ground turkey because is leaner and easier to cook, but you can use Italian sausage or turkey sausage instead. I also use olive oil, but you can substitute for butter if you prefer.
This recipe goes really well with a good red wine! Make sure you show this to your friends, they will fall in love with the recipe and will surely want more.
Slow Cooker Risotto with Butternut Squash and Ground Turkey
Servings: 6 / Prep time: 15-20 minutes / Cook time: 1.5-2 hours
Ingredients
- 3 ½ cups butternut squash, cubed
- 1lb ground turkey
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 ½ cups arborio (risotto) rice
- 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
- ½ cup white or cooking wine
- ½ tbsp minced garlic
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 cup spinach
- 1 cup chopped basil
Directions
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil on a pan on medium heat, place your butternut squash until brown. Turn on your slow cooker to high and put in the butternut squash.
- In the same pan or another one, heat 1 tbsp olive oil and add the turkey meat. When it starts cooking, add the cumin to it and mix.
- While your meat is cooking, chop the onion on a cutting board. Remove the meat from the pan and put it in the slow cooker too.
- Saute the onion and spinach on the same pan. If necessary, add more olive oil and add a bit of garlic to it. Do this for about 5 minutes.
- When the onion becomes semi transparent, add the wine and wait for 3-5 minutes. After this, add the risotto and let it absorb the wine, it will be around 2 more minutes.
- Transfer the mix to the slow cooker and add the chicken broth. Put the lid on and let it cook for about 45 minutes.
- Stir halfway to make sure that everything is mixed. After the time has passed, check to see if risotto is tender. If not, cook for another 20 minutes.
- Once risotto is tender, turn slow cooker to “keep warm” option and add the basil, Parmesan cheese and salt. Let it sit for a few more minutes.
- Serve warm and add Parmesan cheese on top as well. Enjoy!
The overall process of cooking this dish is very simple. You can relax while the slow cooker does all the work! If you are less of a butternut squash person, you can use carrots and bell peppers.
Parmesan cheese is a must for this dish, but you can use a mix of Pecorino and Parmesan as well. For better results, buy real pieces of cheese and cut it yourself. Also, if you’re not in the mood for risotto, you can always use your favorite rice instead.
Ready to try this? What do you think? Let me know how it went and if you have any suggestions or comments!
Author Bio: Chidinma is the founder of Fruitful Kitchen, a blog that shares delicious recipes and lifestyle tips. Most of her recipes help women with fertility issues, especially fibroids, PCOS, and Endometriosis. Sometimes, however, you will find other interesting recipes, as well as cooking tips and tricks there.