This is a great meal when you're tight on time but want a nice dinner. The recipe uses ground turkey, which has a mild taste, is low in fat, and works well with pumpkin. Or use mashed butternut squash puree or, my preference, mashed kabocha squash, in the recipe. All will work. The star of the recipe is the mildly flavored sauce. It's a little sweet, a little savory, a little creamy, and a little tangy. To make things easy and quick, the recipe relies on a package of frozen cheese ravioli, which cook in the sauce in minutes. The ravioli dinner is great served with a salad and crusty bread. Enjoy!
Stovetop Pumpkin or Squash Ravioli -- Serves 4+
1 tablespoon of oil
1/2 cup of chopped onion
16 ounces of lean ground turkey (93 percent)
1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of poultry seasoning or ground sage
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
2 cups of chicken broth (or use 2 teaspoons of chicken "Better Than Bullion" and 2 cups of water)
2 cups of cooked pumpkin, butternut squash, or kabocha squash puree
25-ounce package of frozen cheese ravioli
4 ounces of cream cheese (light is fine)
Chives (optional but good)
Heat the oil in a large skillet or chef's pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, ground turkey, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and dried thyme. Break up the turkey and saute the mixture for about 10 minutes or until the onion softens and the turkey is cooked through. Stir in the chicken broth and pumpkin or squash and bring the mixture to a boil. Stir in the ravioli and bring the mixture back to a boil. Stir the mixture, reduce the heat to a simmer, and cook the ravioli in the sauce for about 10 minutes or until the ravioli is hot and tender and the sauce is thick. Cut the cream cheese into small bits and stir the bits into the sauce until blended. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper, if you like. Turn off the heat, sprinkle on the chives, if you're using them, and let the ravioli sit in the sauce a few minutes before serving them.