Okay, so I admit that I love leftover turkey (hello- Kelli and I had a 22 lb turkey to divide and conquer!). I figure if I am going to spend all day roasting one piece of meat, I might as well make enough for a few extra meals (and some turkey and mustard sandwiches!). Last year I found a recipe from Giada DeLaurentiis from Food Network and I loved it. Bolognese is a rich meat sauce. It's a little thicker than traditional spaghetti sauce too. I loved the added veggies in the sauce and the flavor. It may sound weird to put turkey in a spaghetti-type dish, but it was way yummy. I am making it next week with some turkey I froze after Turkey Day. Enjoy!
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 pound shredded cooked turkey (preferably dark meat)
3 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves (you can use dry, but the flavor won't come out as much as if it were fresh)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound spaghetti (I used thin spaghetti- I like it better for some weird reason)
Freshly grated Parmesan
Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and saute until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and saute 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, stirring often. Stir in the basil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. (The sauce can be made 1 week ahead. Cool the sauce completely, then transfer it to a container and freeze for future use. Bring the sauce to a simmer before using.)
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten as needed. Serve with the Parmesan.
6 comments:
Okay...it is too early and I had to delete my last comment because I think there were 3 miss-spellings! I saw this episode on Food Network and it looks really good. I am not a fan of spaghetti either, I use angel hair. This recipe would also be good with a shaped pasta. If I had leftover turkey I would make this. Maybe after Christmas.
You are definitely getting me diversified in my cooking. I'm excited to try this...although I don't have any leftover turkey either! I'll have to cook up some chicken instead.
So I made this before I even knew Carissa was going to blog it, I didn't use celery because I don't like it, but even the leftovers are good, and I don't like leftover pasta!
A good tip Giada uses (I just remembered this) is that once you combine the noodles and sauce together, if it is too dry or thick, add some of your pasta water into the mix. It is starchy so it will help the sauce thin out a little, but not too much, and it has the flavor of the pasta and salt. I use this tip almost every time I make spaghetti or bolognese.
I have already made every recipe I know of with leftover turkey and I still have a ton left! This is perfect!
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