Turkey Pie

I turned to a casserole for dinner tonight. My latest issue of Cuisine at Home featured a Turkey Pie recipe (which is somewhat similar to a Shepherd's Pie recipe I grew up with featuring a meat/vegetable combo topped with potatoes and baked) and since Zeb and Melissa were here for dinner and grading papers, I decided we could make a dent in the 8 servings indicated for this recipe.

The base of this casserole was browned ground turkey with onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and thyme. A mixture of flour and tomato paste were stirred in before the liquids were added; a can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, dry red wine, Worchestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard. Once everything came to a boil and the sauce was slightly thickened, the browned turkey went back in along with some frozen peas.

The mixture was poured into a casserole dish and topped with frozen hashed brown potatoes drizzled with melted butter. After baking for 30 minutes, the casserole was topped with grated white Cheddar cheese and baked for an additional 20 minutes. The pie was allowed to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I served this with Gardener's Salad with Dijon vinaigrette which combined baby greens, sliced cucumbers and sliced radishes dressed with a Dijon vinaigrette.

This dinner was fine but not as good as some other meals I have turned out recently.




Adapted from Cuisine At Home, October 2011
Turkey Pie (Serves 8)
1 1/2 pound ground turkey (for the most flavorful pie, choose ground turkey labeled no more than 93% lean)
4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 cup each diced onion, carrot, and celery
1 tablespoon each minced garlic and fresh thyme
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 cup frozen green peas
Salt and black pepper to taste
8 cups frozen hash brown potatoes
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 cup shredded which Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 2-quart oval or rectangular baking dish with nonstick spray.

For the filling, brown turkey in 2 tablespoons oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat, 8-10 minutes Transfer turkey to a paper-towel-lined plate; discard any liquid.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in same pan over medium. Add onion, carrot, and celery; sweat, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and thyme, and cook until fragrant, 1 minutes.

Stir in flour and tomato paste; cook 1 minute.

Whisk in diced tomatoes, broth, wine, Worcestershire, and Dijon; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in reserved turkey and peas; season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to prepared baking dish and place on a baking sheet.

For the topping, arrange potatoes on top of filling, then drizzle on butter.

Bake pie 30 minutes. Sprinkle top with Cheddar and bake until potatoes are cooked through about 20 minutes more. Let pie cool 10-15 minutes before serving.




Adapted from Cuisine at Home, October 2011 edition
Gardener's Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette (serves 4)

For the vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the salad:
4 cups mixed baby salad greens
1/4 cup seeded, sliced English cucumber
1/4 cup sliced radishes

For the vinaigrette, whisk together vinegar, shallots and Dijon. Drizzle in oil while whisking until combined, then season with salt and pepper.

For the salad, toss greens, cucumber, and radishes with vinaigrette.


The overall rating for tonight's dinner: