Archive

ITALIAN RECIPES

A selection of favorite Italian turkey breast recipes

Turkey Breast Farmer Style

Ingredients:

1 lb (400 g) turkey breast, sliced into strips
1 lb (400 g) onions, sliced
1/2 cup unsalted butter (we used less, and added some olive oil)
2-3 ladles of broth (bullion is fine)
A bunch parsley, minced
A bunch of chives, chopped (you can also use dill instead)
Salt & pepper

Preparation:

Sauté the onions in the butter over a low flame until they have wilted thoroughly, about 20 minutes. Add the turkey and brown it for 10 minutes, then season to taste, add enough broth to partially cover, and simmer until the turkey is tender. Dust with the herbs before serving.
We also added a half cup of heavy cream, which helped tie things together. It will be nice with rice, though the combination isn't Italian, or with polenta, which would be.
Serves 4.

Turkey Rollups with Pecorino Toscano and Spinach

Ingredients:

10 ounces (250 g) fresh Pecorino Toscano, thinly sliced
8 slices turkey breast, weighing about a pound in all (450 g)
12 ounces (300 g) spinach, washed, ribbed, blanched, gently squeezed, and minced
4 ounces (100 g) minced turkey breast
2 ounces (50 g) minced walnuts
2 cups dry white wine
1 egg
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Butcher's twine

Preparation:

Prepare the spinach, then combine it with the ground turkey, walnuts, and egg, seasoning the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.
Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C)

Gently pound the turkey breast slices to flatten them and spread them with the spinach mixture. Lay the cheese slices over the filling, roll the turkey slices up, and tie them.
Oil a baking dish, put the turkey rolls in it, and roast them for about 10 minutes, then turn them and add the white wine. Return the pan to the oven and cook until the wine has evaporated.

Remove the rollups from the oven, slice them about a half-inch thick, arrange them on a platter, spoon the pan drippings over them, and serve.
Serves 4.

Citrus Roast Turkey Breast

Ingredients:

1 3/4 pounds (800 g) turkey breast, in a single large piece
10 tangerines
4 lemons
2 ribs of celery, stripped of fibers
A small onion, peeled
A small carrot, peeled
A bay leaf
3/4 cup (180 ml) dry white wine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Butcher's twine

Preparation:

Finely chop the celery, onion and carrot.
Tie the turkey breast with the twine as if you were tying a salami. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole and brown the meat, turning it to color all sides. Season with salt and pepper, add the bay leaf, and sprinkle the chopped vegetables over all. Add the wine.
While the wine is evaporating, squeeze 8 of the tangerines and a lemon.

Once the wine has evaporated, continue cooking the meat for 45 minutes more over a moderate flame, turning the meat occasionally and adding spoonfuls of citrus juice as necessary to keep it from drying out.

Squeeze another lemon. Peel the remaining lemons and tangerines, and thinly slice them.
When the meat is done, remove it from the pan and keep it warm. Deglaze the pan drippings with the juice of the squeezed lemon; stir them about with a wooden spoon, and heat over a brisk flame for a minute or two to thicken them somewhat.

Remove the string from the roast, slice it fairly thinly (1/4 inch, half cm slices), and put them on a serving dish, placing citrus slices between the slices of meat. Spoon the pan drippings over all, and serve at once. The wine? White, and given the tartness of the sauce I might be tempted to go with a crisp wine too. Gavi, for example.
Serves 4.

Turkey and Pancetta Spiedini

Ingredients:

1 1/8 pounds (500 g) thinly sliced turkey breast
1/4 pound (100 g) finely sliced flat pancetta (in pancetta's absence bacon will work, though it is sweeter)
Several bay leaves
2 bell peppers of the colors you prefer
A tomato
A spring onion, white and green parts
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
A pinch of ground cayenne pepper
2/5 cup (100 ml) olive oil
Salt to taste
4 skewers

Preparation:

Flatten the slices of turkey with a meat pounder or the flat of a broad-bladed knife. Lay the slices of pancetta over the turkey and roll the turkey slices up. Cut the rolled slices into 1-inch long (2.5 cm) rollups.

Put the rollups on your spiedini, slipping pieces of bay leaf between them, and when you are done brush the kebabs with oil.
Start heating your grill.

While it's heating, stem, rib, and seed the peppers, and then dice them finely. Seed, drain and finely chop the tomato. Finely slice the spring onion. Combine all three in a bowl with the vinegar, a tablespoon or two of oil, and the cayenne pepper. Mix well and keep cool.
When the grill is hot set the kebabs about 6 inches above the coals and grill them for 15 minutes, turning them once or twice as they cook, and basting them as necessary.

Don't have a grill? Heat your oven to 400 F (200 C), arrange the skewers over a roasting pan (with the tips and tails of the kebabs on the lips of the pan, so the meat remains suspended, without touching the bottom of the pan), and cook the kebabs 15 minutes, turning and basting them a couple of times.
The wine? A Monteplciano D'Abruzzo, or perhaps a Torgiano.
Serves 4.

Buon appetito!

10631 Vinedale Street, Sun Valley, CA 91352 - Phone (818) 767-3413 - Fax: (818) 767-1410