Posie’s Place

What to do with a huge tray of turkey escalopes??? That was the question facing me today. I’ve been trying to use up all of the meat we had in the freezer and so over the past week or so we’ve been eating quite a lot of red meat and it’s much more than I’m used to so I really want to steer clear for a few days. There was a special offer on at the supermarket and since I can’t resist a bargain I bought a tray of turkey, my only problem was that there was 1.5kg of the stuff..

As I walked/waddled/hobbled around the supermarket last night I tried to figure out at least one dish I could use the turkey for… and then thanks to seeing some smoked bacon lardons I had one of those eureka moments.. I would make a lasagne. This would not be a traditional lasagne as Stewart doesn’t care for bechamel sauce. I have decided to try one of those, I’ll make it up as I go along recipes and hope it turns out ok.

AD HOC TURKEY LASAGNE

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

• 500g Turkey escalopes, chopped into bite size pieces
• 2 x 400g Cans chopped plum tomatoes
• 3 Cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 Medium onions, finely chopped
• 1 Pinch dried oregano
• 1 Pinch dried basil
• 1 Pinch dried thyme
• 1/2 Nutmeg grated
• 1/3 Bottle white wine
• 1/2 Tsp sugar
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 130g Smoked bacon lardons
• 150g Cheddar, grated
• 150g Parmesan, grated
• 1 Fresh Buffala mozarella
• 6 Dried lasagne sheets (no pre-cook)

PREPARATION

1. Add the olive oil and bacon lardons to a medium non stick pot and fry gently until they begin to colour. Add the onions and garlic and reduce the heat, continue to fry for a further 10 minutes until the onions begin to soften.
2. Add the turkey and continue to fry until the turkey has turned white.
3. Add the wine and the chopped tomatoes to the pot and turn up the heat until the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.
4. Add all of the dried herbs, sugar and nutmeg to the sauce and season lightly with salt and pepper. Allow the sauce to cook gently for 4 hours on a low heat. If the sauce becomes too thick at any stage then add some water to thin it slightly.
5. Spoon out 1/4 of the reduced sauce and set aside. Dilute the rest of the sauce with about 300ml water. Take a lasagne dish (mine was approx 40cm by 20 cm) and add 1/3 of the diluted sauce to the base of the dish. Cover with one layer of lasagne sheets and then some grated cheddar, repeat this process twice more and then cover the lasagne with the thick sauce which was set aside, top with the sliced fresh mozzarella and sprinkle over some freshly grated parmesan.
6. The lasagne can either be allowed to cool and placed into the fridge until later or baked immediately.
7. Bake the lasagne in the over at 180°C for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and golden.
8. Serve with a green salad and some garlic bread.

recipe, food

Well we ate the lasagne and boy was it terrific!!!!! We ate half of the lasagne and stuck the two remaining portions into the freezer. The thick and rich tomato sauce was really good and the crispy, cheesy topping contrasted beautifully. I will definately make this the next time we have visitors and I’m looking forward to polishing off the remains in the freezer too!