Turkey alla cacciatore

To prove that turkey is not just a meal reserved for Christmas, BritMums and Lean on Turkey have challenged the foodie bloggers to come up with the quick recipes using the turkey meat. My dish has been inspired by the Italian recipe. Traditionally "alla cacciatore" is cooked with chicken or rabbit, but turkey works perfectly well in this recipe.  Cacciatore means “hunter” in Italian. It is prepared with tomatoes, herbs, onions and wine.

Turkey alla cacciatore
Ingredients:
500g turkey (diced breast fillet)
25g dried porcini mushrooms
2tbsp olive oil
1 onion
2 celery stalks, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
half a glass of red wine (if you are using a slow cooker, then top it up to half a bottle)
1 tin of plum tomatoes
1 tin (400g) pinto beans
1tbsp plain flour
a handful of olives
a handful of fresh herbs (sage, thyme, mint, chives, rosemary)
1/2 garlic bulb
1 bay leaf
a few ladlefuls of chicken stock or water (a chicken stock cube should be enough)
salt, pepper

Cooking time: 30 minutes (excluding the soaking time and veg prep)


Start by soaking 25g of dried porcini mushrooms in freshly boiled water, just pour over the dried mushrooms and let them soak for about 15 minutes. If you are short of time, skip the porcini soaking stage and just dissolve a cube of porcini stock (for example, Italian brand Star porcini stock cubes are available in all good supermarkets. Mind you, they are pretty salty, so you would need to adjust the amount of salt you are using accordingly).

Place the diced turkey in a very deep frying pan and fry for about five minutes together with the finely sliced onion and celery, then add the sliced carrot and chopped herbs.
Add the garlic cloves whole (you don't have to peel it, just divide the cloves).

Add the tomatoes, olives and chopped porcini. In a small bowl mix a tablespoon of plain flour with the porcini liquid (add one spoon at a time) until you have a smooth runny paste (it will take about 4 tbsp of porcini liquid). Add the paste to the pan, then the rest of the porcini liquid, plus the bay leaf. Add the red wine and chicken stock (your turkey/veg mix should be covered with the stock or hot water). Bring to the boil, then cook on low for about 15 minutes. Add the pinto beans just before serving to heat them through. Season well.
Serve with a nice chunk of bread to mop up all the juices.

Typically I would cook this stew on very low for about an hour and a half, and then add more wine, but you can make it in half an hour.
I love the porcini mushrooms, they bring a wonderful flavour to all kinds of dishes and works really well with the turkey.




This post is my entry for BritMums’ Summer Turkey Recipe Challenge” (link removed as expired).
For more turkey recipes visit the Lean on Turkey site.