Tacchino Mediterraneo (Mediterranean Turkey)

Today we have another post from Tastes from a Tuscan Kitchen, this time provided by Madeline Armillotta, who writes to us from the road:

On writing this post whilst visiting my mother in England I was faced with a dilemma: As my mother has no interest whatsoever in food and greatly dislikes cooking, her kitchen in unequipped and just contains the basics. On flicking through our book I pondered which recipe to make and soon realized that my selection was rather limited, as she does not possess a non-stick saucepan. This eliminated my original idea of making our delicious "Turkey Roll" (on page 78). I finally decided instead on "Mediterranean Turkey", which is simple to prepare and has a shortish cooking time.

Here's the recipe:

Serves 6.

½ cup flour
6 thin slices (2 pounds) boneless turkey breast
¼ cup olive oil
½ large onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 small zucchini, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¾ cup dry white wine1 (8-ounce) can plum tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons dried oregano
salt and black pepper

Dredge the turkey with flour. Heat half of the olive oil in a large nonstick pan, and brown the turkey on both sides. Remove from the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Add the other half of the olive oil to the pan and heat. Saute all the vegetables until tender, for about 15 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, and the basil and oregano. Stir well, until smooth. Adjust the flavor with salt and pepper. In a large baking dish, pour a layer of sauce on the bottom, lay the turkey over the top, and cover with the remaining sauce. Cover and bake for 40 minutes.

I finished cooking this dish in the saucepan--adding 2 cups of water and then reducing the sauce and not baking it in the oven, as we originally suggested in the recipe. I served it with boiled rice, which soaked up the sauce perfectly and was a good contrast to the distinct flavor of the turkey. My friends that had come to lunch all agreed that it was a great choice and, believe it or not, even my mother liked it!


Thanks to Madeline for the delicious pictures!