Turkey meat is a meat with a tasty flavour and firm texture. It is very digestible and suitable for those who do sport and want to keep their weight under control. It provides a good dose of vitamins and minerals.
It is a food suitable for eating at any age. Unfortunately, this white meat is often left behind in favour of chicken, instead it has the same characteristics as chicken and a lower price.
Moreover, it is a meat that lends itself to being cooked in a variety of ways and for all tastes.
Here you will find a selection of recipes for cooking turkey meat.
Roast turkey
A classic, in the oven, but with several variations.
What you need for roast turkey
800 grams of turkey in one piece
a few sage and rosemary leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Preparing the roast turkey
Make holes with a knife in each side of the piece of turkey. Separately, prepare a mixture of chopped sage, rosemary, salt and pepper and massage the piece of meat well with this, and place some of it in the drilled holes.
Tie the piece of meat with kitchen string and place it on a baking tray. Drizzle a little oil over the meat and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 50 minutes.
Turkey with chestnuts
A perfect second course for Christmas lunch
What you need for turkey with chestnuts
A boneless turkey weighing approx. 3 kg
800 grams of chestnuts
2 glasses of dry white wine
1 clove of garlic
a few sage leaves and a sprig of rosemary
30 grams of lard
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of the turkey with chestnuts
First roast the chestnuts in the classic perforated pan and when they are cooked, remove the shell.
Prepare a mince with the garlic clove and the sage and rosemary leaves. Use this mince to sprinkle the inside of the turkey with salt and pepper. Place inside the turkey about half of the chestnuts, a few curls of lard and close the meat by sewing with cotton thread. Place the turkey in a baking dish and bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for about 3 hours.
The remaining chestnuts should be chopped very finely, preferably with a blender.
In a saucepan put some of the turkey cooking juices, the white wine and the chopped chestnuts to form a kind of cream, which should be put on top of the sliced turkey and served hot.
Stuffed turkey
This is also a dish very suitable for the Christmas festivities, and this recipe in particular is typical of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
What you need for the stuffed turkey
A turkey of about 2 kilograms
grams 200 of dried chestnuts
gram 70 of stale bread
1 onion
grams 90 of thinly sliced bacon
gram 140 of fresh sausage
3 tablespoons of dry white wine
1 egg
30 g lard
sage, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste
Preparing the stuffed turkey
The whole turkey must be cleaned and free of giblets. Salt and pepper to taste inside the turkey.
The dried chestnuts must be boiled until they become a kind of puree when mashed.
Fry the finely chopped onion and chopped sausage in a saucepan with half the lard. Cook for about 15 minutes.
In a bowl put the stale bread, which has been previously soaked and squeezed together with the chestnut pulp, mix well and add the sautéed onion and sausage. Prepare a mince with the sage and rosemary and add to the stale bread. Add the beaten egg and white wine and mix everything together.
Stuff the turkey with this mixture and close the cut with cotton thread.
Line the turkey with the bacon slices and fasten the slices with toothpicks.
Place the turkey in a preheated oven at 180 degrees by placing lard curls on top and cook for about 2 hours. Serve hot.
Turkey in tuna sauce
A tasty variation of the famous veal tonnato, this is an even lighter version.
Needed for the tuna tuna turkey
grams 1000 turkey breast in one piece
grams 250 tuna in oil
4 hard-boiled eggs
6 anchovy fillets
1 onion
1 carrot
1 celery rib
10 g capers
1 clove of garlic
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
olive oil, vegetable stock, salt and pepper to taste.
Preparing tuna turkey
Start a few hours beforehand because once the meat is boiled, it has to be refrigerated and left to cool completely.
To prepare the turkey meat, put the meat together with the onion, celery and carrot, clove of garlic, cloves, bay leaves, and rosemary sprig in a pot and cover with lightly salted water and boil for about an hour.
Remove the meat and set the cooking broth aside.
Now prepare the sauce.
Using a kitchen mixer, mince the tuna in oil, boiled eggs, anchovy fillets, capers and a cup of meat stock. It should result in a rather thick and smooth cream.
Slice the meat and after placing it on a serving dish, place the sauce on top, leaving it to stand for at least an hour to allow it to be absorbed by the meat.
This dish is best served cold.
Turkey and ricotta meatloaf
Ingredients for the turkey and ricotta meatloaf
grams 600 ground turkey meat
grams 500 fresh ricotta cheese
grams 150 of thinly sliced bacon
2 eggs
50 g grated Parmesan cheese
grams 60 of breadcrumbs
grams 25 of butter
parsley, rosemary, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of the turkey and ricotta meatloaf
In a bowl, mix the turkey meat with the ricotta very well. Add the grated Parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, beaten eggs, a few chopped parsley leaves, a pinch of nutmeg, salt and pepper to the mixture.
Amalgamate everything, form the characteristic meatloaf shape with the mixture and leave to rest in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
After this time, take the meatloaf and wrap it with the bacon slices.
Place the meatloaf on the oven tray, put a few pieces of butter and the rosemary leaves on top and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for one hour.
Wait at least a quarter of an hour before serving to prevent the slices from falling apart.
It is good both hot and cold.
Turkey breast Modenese style
Ingredients for turkey breast Modenese style
grams 600 turkey breast
grams 60 of sliced ham
grams 100 of thinly sliced Gruyere cheese
25 g butter
2 eggs
olive oil, salt, pepper and enough breadcrumbs
Preparation of turkey breast Modenese style
Cut the turkey breast into slices, beat the slices with a pestle and pass the slices in the beaten eggs together with salt and pepper. After passing them in the eggs, roll them in breadcrumbs.
Heat the butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the turkey slices.
Once cooked, pass the slices in blotting paper to remove excess grease.
Place the slices in a baking dish with the ham slices and cheese slices on top.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees until the cheese has melted. Serve piping hot.
Turkey curry
What you need for the turkey curry
600 g turkey breast
a glass of milk
grams 40 of butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon curry powder
Preparing the turkey curry
Cut the turkey breast into not very large pieces, flour and brown in a pan with butter.
As soon as they are browned, adjust the salt, add the milk and tomato paste and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add the teaspoon of curry powder and simmer, stirring often, for about 10 minutes. If the sauce tends to dry out, add a few tablespoons of water.
Serve hot.
Turkey stew with potatoes
What you need for turkey stew with potatoes
600 g turkey breast cut into pieces
grams 20 of butter
half a glass of white wine
grams 300 of tomato puree
1 small onion
1 small carrot
4 potatoes
a sprig of rosemary
a few basil leaves
flour, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
Preparation of turkey stew with potatoes
Lightly flour the turkey pieces.
Meanwhile, fry the finely chopped onion and carrot in a pan with a few tablespoons of olive oil and butter. As soon as they are golden, add the floured turkey stew and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring often. Add the white wine and let it evaporate completely. Add the tomato puree and rosemary leaves and simmer for about 15 minutes.
Cut the potatoes into small pieces and add them to the turkey, cover and simmer for a further 30 minutes.
At the end of the cooking time before serving add pieces of basil and serve hot.
