Festive food 04 Dec

Turkey Lasagne with Butternut Squash and Spinach

Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

• 240g bag of spinach
• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 300g butternut squash, peeled and cut into cubes
• 40g butter
• 40g plain flour
• 500ml full-fat milk
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 150ml turkey stock
• A handful of fresh basil leaves, torn
• 400g cooked golden turkey, cut into small chunks
• 12 no cook lasagne sheets
• 150g freshly grated parmesan
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4
2. Place the spinach in a colander and pour boiling water over the leaves to wilt them, drain well, cool and then squeeze out the excess water. Heat the rapeseed oil in a small pan and sauté the butternut squash, until just soft and season with sea salt and black pepper and set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp of rapeseed oil, add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes, stock and torn basil leaves, season well with sea salt and black pepper and simmer over a very low heat for 8-10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, to make the bechamel sauce, place in a saucepan; the butter, flour and milk and bring slowly to the boil, whisking all the time, until the milk has thickened. Simmer for 2 minutes on a very low heat, whisking occasionally, then season well with sea salt, black pepper and a good grating of nutmeg.
5. To assemble, using a deep oven-proof dish; layer the bottom of the dish with a little tomato sauce, turkey, butternut squash, spinach, parmesan (reserve 30g) and bechamel sauce, top with the lasagne sheets and repeat, finishing the top off with tomato sauce. Cover the lasagne with foil and cook for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the remaining 30g of parmesan cheese and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until cooked.

Per serving (based on 8)

412 kcal
18.1g fat
8.5g saturates
7.6g sugars
0.8g salt

Golden Turkey with Coriander & Feta Pesto in Salt Baked Potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the salt baked potatoes:

• 4 medium waxy baking potatoes, washed
• 2 egg whites
• 250g sea salt

For the pesto:

• 75g coriander, mainly the leaves
• 2 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
• Sea salt and black pepper
• 175ml extra-virgin olive oil
• 120g feta cheese

For the golden turkey:

• 300g roasted/cooked Golden Turkey, dark and white meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 2 large vine tomatoes, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (optional)
• 50g stoned black olives
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4
2. Prick the potatoes all over. Place the egg white and salt in separate shallow bowls. Dip each potato into the egg whites, then roll the potato in the salt to cover. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet, then place in the oven and bake for 1 hour or until cooked.
3. Meanwhile, make the pesto: blend the coriander, pine nuts, garlic and sea salt before adding the olive oil, crumble in the feta cheese and check the seasoning. Set half of the pesto aside to use in this recipe and store half for use at a later date (it's great mixed into cooked pasta!)
4. Mix together the golden turkey, tomato, onion (if using) and olives with 2 tbsp of the pesto, adjust the seasoning with the sea salt and black pepper, if required.
5. To serve, remove the salt crust from the potatoes then split them open and pile in the golden turkey filling and serve with the extra pesto.

Per serving
597kcal
33.1g fat
6.7g saturates
3.6g sugar
3g salt

Top tips: if you don't like coriander, you can use basil leaves instead, making sure you don't use the stalks as this discolours the pesto. This filling is also delicious with a couscous salad if you don't want potatoes.

Turkey Strudel with Wild Mushrooms and Chestnuts

Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon, cut into small dice
• 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 200g fresh chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 25g dried wild porcini mushrooms, soaked, roughly chopped and well drained
• 100g prepared chesnuts, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 tbsp mascarpone
• 450g free-range cooked Golden Turkey, cut into chunks
• 9 sheets of filo pastry
• Butter, melted (for brushing the filo sheets)
• Sea salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas 6
2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the bacon and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until the onion is softened (but not browned) then add the mushrooms and cook for a further 3 minutes, stirring continuously before adding the porcini mushrooms, chestnuts, garlic, thyme and mix well and cook for a further 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and then stir in the mascarpone, season with sea salt and black pepper. Leave to cool, stir in the turkey and refrigerate for an hour.
3. Lay out one sheet of filo pastry and brush with melted butter (keep the remaining filo pastry covered with a clean damp towel to prevent it from drying out) and repeat with two more filo pastry sheets. Cut the filo pastry sheets into three, lengthways, spoon one heaped tablespoon of the turkey mixture along the short edge of the pastry (1cm from the edge) and fold the bottom edge over the filling, tucking in the sides and rolling into a tight closed cylinder. Repeat this process to make eight more strudels. Then, place the strudels, sealed edge down, onto a greased baking tray, brush with more melted butter and bake for 20-30 minutes until crisp and golden. Serve with warm leftover cranberry sauce and salad.