Turkey, Butternut Squash, and Mascarpone Rice Casserole

This is a great way to use up leftover turkey and definitely worth cooking turkey specially for this casserole. This rice casserole is loaded with turkey and cheesy butternut squash mixture.

This wonderful dish is not just inspired by Thanksgiving and leftover turkey but also by a heavenly dish I had at my anniversary dinner. My husband took me to a very nice little restaurant that I’ve been dying to try for a while and it was fantastic! For dinner, I had seared scallops over butternut squash and mascarpone risotto. The risotto was so delicious that I wanted to recreate it as soon as I got home. (Of course I didn’t do it as soon as I got home but soon after.)

I really wanted to share the risotto with you but then I remembered that risotto is not something that’s very popular for people to make at home. I know it’s a high-maintenance dish and I think that’s why many cooks try to avoid making it. Even though it’s hard to resist when going out to eat but, as my close friend put it, “it’s just too much of a pain making it at home.” I happen to think that risotto is totally worth an hour of stirring and if you are anything like me, I would be happy to email you the adjustment to this recipe to make it a risotto. Or, I will just go ahead an post the risotto recipe another day if I get enough demand. (Definitely let me know if you want that recipe!)

This casserole is definitely much, much simpler to make than a risotto but just as tasty. It’s a delicious way to use up your turkey leftovers. The creamy butternut squash “sauce” here is finger-licking-good and comforting. I prefer to use my immersion blender and puree the squash but you can always leave it chunky. Or you can even use a potato masher and mash the squash right in the sauce pot.

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Turkey, Butternut Squash, and Mascarpone Rice Casserole

**Note: If unable to use mascarpone cheese (I know it can be pricey and harder to find) you can use 4 oz of cream cheese and 2 Tbsp heavy cream in the sauce.**

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword casserole, leftover, turkey

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Author Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

• About .75 lb cooked turkey meat
• 1 cup jasmine or basmati rice dry
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 cups diced butternut squash
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 1/4 cups chicken stock
• 4 oz mascarpone cheese
• 1 Tbsp diced fresh rosemary
• Salt
• 1 1/2 cups of shredded Monterrey Jack cheese

Instructions

1. Cook rice according to the package instructions and set aside when it's cooked. Add diced turkey meat to rice.
2. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 1.5 or a 2 quart casserole dish.
3. In a medium sauce pot, over medium heat, melt butter and add minced onion and diced butternut squash. Saute for a couple of minutes and add stock. Cook over medium heat until butternut squash is cooked. You can choose to blend this mixture or leave it chunky.
4. Add pressed garlic, rosemary and salt.
5. Add mascarpone cheese and slowly stir until cheese is melted.
6. Pour butternut squash mixture into rice and turkey and mix until all evenly incorporated. Transfer turkey/rice mixture into the casserole dish and spread it evenly. Top with shredded Monterrey Jack cheese.
7. Bake for 15-17 minutes. (You can turn on the broiler for a few seconds to get top cheese layer nicely golden.)

Recipe Notes

Recipe from Lyuba @ willcookforsmiles.com All images and content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to share this recipe, please simply link back to this post for the recipe. Thank you.

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