Slow Cooker Turkey Ragu

While I am regaining my energy to cook, these slow cooker recipes have been really really helpful especially on snow days!  When I am filled with energy in the morning, I can get all my ingredients together and throw it in the cooker.  Then I have the rest of the day to play with my son and hubby out in the snow.  The house is filled with delicious smells and I can relax when dinner rolls around.  Here is a great one to try:

Slow Cooker Turkey Ragu

from Family Circle Magazine

Ingredients

28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I used crushed tomatoes in tomato puree)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 pkg lean ground turkey
2/3 cup Philadelphia reduced-fat Italian & Herb Cooking Creme
1 lb cooked rotini pasta

Steps

1.  Coat slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray.
2.  Stir tomatoes, onion, carrot, garlic, oregano, sugar, salt, and red pepper flakes in slow cooker.
3.  Crumble in ground turkey and stir to combine.
4.  Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours.
5.  Stir in Cooking Creme until evenly incorporated.
6.  Stir half of sauce into the cooked pasta.
7.  Serve individual dish with extra sauce.  Garnish with basil or cheese if desired.

The Final Product

This was a really tasty and hearty meal.  I had thought that I would miss having ground beef in a tomato sauce type mixture.  The ground turkey was a refreshing replacement.  The red pepper flakes gave it a little kick and cooking creme provided just the right amount of creaminess and extra herbs.  It is a nice cold weather addition to have in our recipe book.