Turkey

Quick Skillet Lasagna

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One day I am going to be a great meal planner.  At this current time however I am not so great at it.  Every now and then I plan a week of meals and I only have to take one trip to the grocery store.  But then there are weeks like last one where I find myself on the couch at 5pm on Friday evening not sure of what we are going to eat for dinner.  I loaded the kids up in the car after browsing through my Test Kitchen cookbook and got what I needed for this quick one skillet dinner.  It was ready by 7pm,  it was a huge hit and a recipe that I will definitely be making again.

Quick Skillet Lasagna | Hottie Biscotti

In this skillet lasagna you have all the goodness of lasagna without all the work of layering and dirtying several dishes.  The recipe calls for broken lasagna noodles, but you could use penne or ziti if that’s what you have around.  I used Italian turkey sausage, but a mixture of ground beef and pork is what is called for in the original recipe.  I added a few ounces of goat cheese to the ricotta because I don’t think that there is a thing on this earth that couldn’t use some goat cheese goodness.  I layered some mozzarella slices on top of the finished dish and broiled it for a few minutes.  I think when you serve lasagna there should be strings of cheese stretching from pan to plate, so this ensures that will happen.  Top it all off with some fresh chopped basil and you have a super delicious and satisfying dinner that is ready in less than an hour.  I realize it’s no 30-minute meal, but it sure does take less time than a proper lasagna!

Quick Skillet Lasagna | Hottie Biscotti

Serve this with lots of good bread and a green salad for a complete meal, and one that will make everyone very happy.

Quick Skillet Lasagna

Adapated slightly from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 package Italian turkey sausage (16-20 ounces)
  • 1 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 can tomato sauce (8-10 ounces)
  • 8 ounces of lasagna noodles, broken into 2 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan + more for serving
  • 8 ounces part-skim ricotta
  • 3 ounces goat choose
  • 8-10 slices of fresh mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Directions

  1. Pour the tomatoes into a quart measuring cup and fill with water to make 4 cups.  Set aside.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and cook until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes.  Season with a pinch of salt.
  3. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.  Add in the turkey and cook, breaking the meat up into pieces, until meat is cooked through and no longer pink.
  4. Pour in the tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir to combine.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Add in the noodles and stir to combine.  Press the noodles down into the sauce so that they are covered and then cover the skillet.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and then reduce heat to medium low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. In a small bowl stir the ricotta with the goat cheese, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Set aside.
  7. Preheat your broiler.
  8. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the Parmesan.  Use a large spoon to dot the top of the skillet with the ricotta mixture, then lay the mozzarella slices on top.
  9. Place the skillet under the broiler until the cheese begins to brown.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the basil.
  10. Serve with extra Parmesan.

 

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One Pan Penne with Sausage, Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes

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A special thanks to Andrea who introduced me to this dish and the cookbook it came from!  She made this for Ben and me when we went to visit Boston and stayed with them for a night.  After a day of traveling it was so nice to be in someone’s home for dinner and to have such a satisfying and delicious meal.

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What originally attracted me to the recipe, before I’d even tasted it, was that everything is made in one pan!  No boiling pasta separately and adding it to another pan where you’ve made the sauce.  You get to do it all together and only have one pan to clean.  This makes me very happy (and Ben, too since he’s the one who usually does the dishes after dinner).

This recipe is from America’s Test Kitchen Family Recipes, a cookbook I bought on Amazon the same night I had this pasta.  I love the Test Kitchen.  I think I’ve mentioned this before.  The recipes are reliably good and they include tips on ingredients and methods to use in the kitchen.  They also give you the whys and hows of cooking and baking.  Included in this large ring-bound cookbook are tons of recipes for all kinds of things, appetizers to desserts.  Inside the front cover you’ll find some emergency substitutions, and inside the back cover are temps for cooking meat, equivalent measurements and conversions for baking.  Inside you’ll not only find recipes but cookware tips and food safety.  I often find myself pulling out my phone to remind myself how many tablespoons are in 1/4 cup or what temperature my pork should be, but this book has it easily accessible and I won’t get flour on my phone!  Have I sufficiently plugged the cookbook?  I should be getting paid for this…

This pasta dish is delicious and comforting, but not heavy.  There is some heavy cream and Parmesan which makes the dish just rich enough without making you feel like you’re over indulging.  You can use hot, sweet or mild Italian sausage in this dish.  The spinach and sun-dried tomatoes are the perfect additions.

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To prep ahead you can cut the onion and garlic and store them separately.  If you have sun-dried tomato halves you can slice them and store them as well.  You can grate the Parmesan unless you bought it already grated.  I didn’t try making this completely ahead, but did have some reheated the next day for lunch and it was terrific.

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Sausage, Spinach and Sun-dried Tomatoes with Penne

From Americas’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil or reserved oil from sun-dried tomatoes
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 pound Italian turkey sausage
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup chopped or sliced oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, oil drained and reserved
  • 8 ounces penne or ziti
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 6-ounce bag baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onions and cook until they begin to soften.
  2. Add the sausage, breaking it up as it cooks, until it is no longer pink, 4-5 minutes.
  3. Stir in the garlic, then scatter the tomatoes and penne on top of the sausage.  Add the broth and the cream then cover and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat and simmer for 10-12 minutes until pasta is al dente.
  4. Add the spinach and cover for 1 minute.  Remove the lid and stir together to fully wilt the spinach.
  5. Add in the Parmesan, stir and season with salt and pepper.

 

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Greek Turkey Meatloaf

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When Ben got home from work and asked what we were having for dinner I am pretty sure that he cringed and rolled his eyes when I said turkey meatloaf.  If it were up to him there would be no turkey burgers, no turkey meatballs, and no turkey meatloaf.  And I get it.  If the name of the food has the word meat in it, then it should be made of meat.  This made me wonder, what is meat, exactly?  I looked into the definition of meat, which is really just any animal flesh that we eat.  But meat is defined more specifically as pork, beef and lamb by the meat packing industry.  Chicken and turkey are grouped in the poultry category.  So today we’re making poulty-loaf…which just doesn’t sound very good.  So, I will keep calling this turkey “meat”loaf.

This was a good meatloaf.  Definitely unique in flavor with the feta and dill.  It wasn’t real juicy, but not at all dry either.  I liked it, and Ben didn’t say that he hated it…

One of the reasons I chose to make this was its built in leftover recipe.  I recently got an iPad (which I still can’t believe I talked myself into thinking I needed) and I have the Martha Stewart Everyday Food mag on it.  This meatloaf recipe uses 1/3 of the leftover meatloaf to make turkey and spinach hand pies.  Usually the only option for leftover meatloaf is meatloaf sandwiches, which are delicious, but it was fun to try something different.  More on those later.

The only changes I made were to use wheat sandwich bread slices (which I soaked in a few tablespoons of milk before mixing them with everything else) and using all 85/15 turkey.

Greek Turkey Meatloaf

From Everyday Food April 2012

Ingredients

  • 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 small red onion, diced small
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2 large celery stalks, diced small
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 2 pounds ground 85/15 turkey (or half 93/7 and half 85/15)
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 slices white or wheat sandwich bread, cut into small pieces
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 4 ounces feta, crumbled (1 cup)
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion, garlic, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are soft, 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. In a large bowl, combine bread crumbs and milk and let soak for a few minutes.  Add in vegetables, turkey, egg, 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using your hands, mix until combined. Mix in feta and dill.
  3. Transfer to a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet and form into a 4-by-10-inch loaf. Bake until cooked through, 45 to 55 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing. (To store, cover and refrigerate, up to 3 days.)
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Baked Asian Turkey Meatballs with Soy Ginger Sauce

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The lovely aroma of fresh ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, scallions and cilantro filled my kitchen when I made these for dinner a few nights ago.  Those ingredients alone make my mouth water.  I am almost always up for Chinese or Thai food, but thinking about how a lot of that stuff is prepared makes me have second thoughts a lot of the time.  It’s usually too oily and greasy and even if I opt for a dish with lots of veggies, it is often soaked in overly salty sauce.  And then I somehow find myself ordering egg rolls, fried spring rolls, or maybe an order of crab rangoon…oh, the deep fried goodness of it all.  These meatballs don’t quite measure up to the pleasures of pad thai and sesame chicken, but the flavors are there, and all without the guilt.

My dinner plans were to make these meatballs from this recent Smitten Kitchen post, Scallion Meatballs with Soy Ginger Glaze.  But after reading through the recipe I decided to look for a baked meatball recipe (instead of pan fried) with more substance that would serve as a meal and not a glorified appetizer.  That search led me to this recipe from Skinny Taste, Asian Turkey Meatballs with Sesame Lime Dipping Sauce.  So I combined the two, and with a little tweaking here and there I wound up with these.

Serve these meatballs with some rice to soak up the delicious sauce.  We ate them with white rice, but brown would be a great choice, and a healthier one.  Simple steamed broccoli is a perfect side dish.  There is so much flavor in the meatballs that you don’t really need anything else.  I used a mixture of turkey and beef because I had an extra 1/2 pound of lean ground beef from another recipe I wanted to use, but use all turkey if you like.  Enjoy!

Baked Asian Turkey Meatballs with Soy Ginger Sauce

Meatballs

Ingredients

  • 1/3 cup panko crumbs
  • 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
  • 1/2 lb lean ground beef
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tbsp peeled ginger, minced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • 4 scallions, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 3 tsp sesame oil

Directions

  1. Combine ground turkey, beef, panko, egg, salt, scallions, ginger, cilantro, and soy sauce.  Mix with your hands until combined well.
  2. Shape 1/4 cup meat mixture into a ball and transfer to a baking dish. Repeat with remaining mixture.
  3. Bake at 400°F until cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

Sauce

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce, reduced sodium
  • 1/2 cup white wine (or mirin)
  • 1/4 cup peeled ginger, chopped

Directions

  1. Bring sugar and water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar melts completely.
  2. Reduce heat to a medium-low and add soy sauce, wine and ginger.
  3. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced, 20-30 minutes.  You can simmer it longer to get a thicker sauce.
  4. Serve sauce on top of meatballs and rice.  You can strain the sauce to get rid of the ginger pieces, but I left mine in the sauce.
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Mini Turkey Meatloaves

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Oh, meatloaf.  Loved by many, despised by some.  Or is it the other way around?  I like meatloaf.  I always have.  My mom used to make one in a pie plate that was topped with ketchup and lemon slices and baked in the microwave.  Yes, the microwave.  I have very fond memories of that dish.

This turkey meatloaf can be made as one large loaf or 4 mini loaves.  I chose to do the mini ones so they would cook a bit quicker…and I like the idea of my own cute personal meatloaf.

Here is the link to the original recipe from skinnytaste.com.  I used 93/7 ground turkey, soaked the oats in a few tablespoons of buttermilk for some more moisture, and used a combination of dried thyme, basil, parsley and oregano instead of the marjoram.  Whatever herbs you like would be good.  These were tasty.  I’ll make them again.

With the leftover loaves I made meatloaf sandwiches the next night.  You don’t have to reheat the meat, just toast some whole wheat buns, spread with mayo, slice the meatloaf, layer on the bun and top with dill pickle slices.  Ben first opted out of the pickles, but after a few bites he decided to give them a chance and said it was much improved.  Enjoy!

Mini Turkey Meatloaves

Adapted from skinnytaste.com

Ingredients

  • 1/2 small onion, chopped
  • 1.3 lb 93% ground turkey
  • 1/2 cup oatmeal
  • 3 tablespoons buttermilk (or milk)
  • 1/4 cup ketchup + 2 tbsp
  • 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon each dried thyme, basil, parsley and oregano
  • salt and pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
  2. Soak oatmeal and buttermilk in a small bowl for 5 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl mix turkey, onion, oatmeal, egg, ketchup, salt, pepper and herbs.
  4. Divide into four equal loafs and place each loaf into a non stick mini loaf pan or shape into small loafs on a cookie sheet lined with non-stick foil or parchment.
  5. In a small cup mix remaining 2 tbsp ketchup with Worcestershire sauce and brush onto each loaf.
  6. Bake uncovered for about 40 minutes at 350°.  After baking let them sit for 5 minutes before serving.

 

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