There is just something special about a warm and nourishing meal in the evening on a cold and crisp autumn day. I love cooking throughout the seasons but the sweet coziness that cooking in fall and winter brings is my favorite. This brings me to today’s post! I wanted to share 3 slow cooker recipes to make this Fall using seasonal ingredients like pumpkin, butternut squash, and leek.
First up is a deeply nourishing slow-cooker soup! It’s kale, butternut squash, leek, and white bean soup and my goodness is it delicious. I first saw this type of soup on Martha Stewart’s website but decided to make a few tweaks.
What ingredients you’ll need: 1 Leek, 1 Yellow onion, 1 clove of garlic, 1 of the big broths or bone broth, 1 Medium sized butternut squash (I get the pre-chopped in the fresh section), 2 bushels of Kale, Canned White beans, and hickory smoked bacon (the kicker).
Spices used: Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, White Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes, and some salt to taste.
Let’s talk about the tweaks I made to Martha’s recipe. She made it really easy by basically throwing all the ingredients into the crockpot or slow cooker and let it do its thing. There is nothing wrong with that I mean she’s a cooking queen after all buttttt I am going to make it harder on you sorry! But it will be worth it in flavor.
How to make it:
1) Roast your butternut squash first. I know an extra step ugh but the flavor you get from just this step alone is immense. I add the chopped butternut squash to a sheet pan and poured some olive oil over it and dusted it with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. I then bake it for about 45 mins at 425 degrees F.
2) While that’s roasting get to chopping. Chop your leek as much or as little as you’d like (make sure to really wash it, the layers can be filled with dirt), chop your onion, peel your garlic clove, pull the leaves off the stems of your kale then chop, and chop your bacon and set aside.
3) When you have about 10 minutes left of roasting the squash add some oil to your pan on the stove on medium and toss in a portion of your onion and leek. Whatever amount feels right to you. Let those really carmelize but not burn. Then add your garlic clove and continuously stir so things don’t burn and when all of those are golden brown add in your bacon. Let the bacon cook through and become slightly browner and then turn the pan off and toss this mixture into your crockpot.
4) Take the squash out of the oven and add it to your pot, add the kale, the rinsed can of white cannelloni beans, and your broth. You want your broth to be covering the entire mixture and filling at least 3/4 of the pot. Add your spices to taste and turn your cooker on high for 4 hours or low for 6. I did a combination of high for 4 and low for 2 additional hours. This seemed perfect! Top it with some Parmesan and dip a piece of bread in and enjoy!
PS* My crockpot is the 6qt and because it’s just me this proportion lasts me the week but if you’re making it for your family not to worry it makes enough!
Whimsy & Willow 