Thanksgiving for Two

Thanksgiving is a holiday that is wonderful to be spent with family. This year it's just SFOmoto and myself so I decided to forego a whole turkey and try a Turkey Roulade.  A turkey roulade is a turkey breat butterlied with stuffing in the center and then rolled and baked.

Ingredients:

¼ cup olive oil, plus 2 tablespoons

Half an onion, finely chopped

½ pound Italian sausage

¼ cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage

1 cup garlic and herb breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon melted unsalted butter

1½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 (3 pound) boneless, skinless turkey breast, butterflied

Preperation:

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat add 1/4 cup oil, onion, and sausage.  Once sausage is browned and onion has softened, add the garlic and chicken broth and continue cooking for another minute.  Add sage, melted butter, breadcrumbs, and mix well.  Transfer to a mixing bowl to cool.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

On large working surface, lay the turkey breast on a large piece of plastic wrap.  If your turkey breast is not butterflied, just lay it on it’s side and cut a deep slit down the side, making sure to not cut all the way through.  You want to lay it open like a book.  Place a second large piece of plastic wrap over turkey breast and pound to a uniform 1/2 inch thickness.  I had to get creative and use a rubber mallet from my husband, but you could even use a rolling pin, use what you’ve got!

Take off the top plastic , sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper over the breast.  Now spread a thin layer of the sausage mixture over the turkey leaving an inch on all sides.  You may have a little of the mixture left over.  Now carefully roll up the turkey breast, short end to short end.  Tie with kitchen string every two inches and cut loose ends.  Rub the remaining 1 teaspoon salt onto the rolled turkey breast.

Heat a large oven safe skillet over high heat, add 2 tablespoons oil, once hot, sear the turkey breast on all sides until a nice deep golden brown.   If you don’t have a big oven proof skillet, you can just transfer the turkey breast to a shallow baking dish once browned.  Loosely cover the skillet or dish with foil and transfer to the oven.  Cook for about 30 minutes or until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer reads 165° in the center.  Mine was actually ready at 25 minutes, so I would start checking then.

Take out of the oven and let rest covered for 15 minutes.

Snip and remove the twine, slice into 1/2 inch slices, put on a pretty dish, set on the table and let everyone think you spent days on the turkey.

You could even make it earlier in the day and take out to sear and bake 45 minutes before dinner.