Stuffed Turkey Breast

Following the lead of my brother in law Dave, it has become my routine to do a quick peruse of the meat department at the supermarket to look first for items that are on sale. These are items that need to be used up quickly, but since I’m often shopping for today’s meal that suits me just fine. Shopping this way not only saves me some coin, but it also means I’m doing one tiny act to combat the incredible waste of food that goes on every day.

My awareness about food waste was taken to a new level recently when I watched a Canadian documentary called Just Eat It. It’s available for free streaming at Knowledge.ca and is totally worth the time to watch it.

We all know that food waste is big. Just the stuff we throw out in our own fridges accounts for something like 20% of food waste, and the colossal waste that is demonstrated here is just a tiny tip of the iceberg. Watch it if you have the time.

Anyway, today I rescued a rolled boneless turkey breast. Though turkey is not Steve’s favourite meat I figured surely I could come up with something that would make him happy. This stuffed turkey breast, fashioned after our favourite pork bracioli from a local Italian market, was the perfect solution.

Basically bracioli (or brajole) is an italian dish of rolled and stuffed meat (usually beef), and like so many peasant or regional dishes, every mamma has her own family version. Anyone remember when Debra made braciole on Everybody Loves Raymond? Funny.

Because turkey is so lean, and because I too wanted ‘to make something good’, I wanted my filling to be moist and full of flavour, so I stuffed it with fresh garden Swiss chard, spicy Italian sausage meat, a layer of prosciutto and a few slices of provolone.

The breast was unrolled from it’s little safety net and then I added the first flavour layer by slipping a rub under the skin. I love this one by the folks over at AmazingRibs. Mixing a few tablespoons of the rub with some ghee or olive oil creates an easy to spread wet rub and the fat helps to bring out the flavours of the dry herbs. I use this rub all the time.

Then the breast was flipped over, covered with some plastic wrap and pounded flat with a cast iron frying pan (as much as that is possible). The fillings were layered on and the whole thing was rolled up nice and neat and retied. The first time I had to do this I wasn’t sure how to go about it but this video is a great demonstration. It’s actually really easy, and it’s a super impressive kitchen skill!

Lastly I salted the skin and left the whole thing to rest, uncovered, for a short time in the fridge. This draws some of the moisture out of the skin so that it will roast up nice and crispy. Nobody wants rubbery skin!

Right before cooking I slathered a little extra wet rub (a mix of herbs and ghee) over the whole thing, prepared my drip pan, removed one of the grates and placed the pan under the other, and lit my barbecue. Do it in that order, it’s not fun trying to slip a drip pan under the meat once the heat is on.

By now you’re probably seeing that I use my barbecue an extraordinary amount, and since it has been so warm the grill was the modus operandi for this meal, but you could just as easily roast it in the oven. Either way, the use of some bone broth and added veggies under the grates creates a lovely, thin gravy to drizzle over the meat, absolutely ensuring that it is moist and delicious.

Even Steve, the ‘I’m not a big turkey fan’ enjoyed it. We ate every last bite.

Stuffed Turkey Breast

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Servings: 4

Author: www.miasdailydish.com

A moist and delicious stuffed breast of turkey, cooked over the grill, or in the oven.

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Ingredients

For the roast

• 1 medium sized boneless skin on, turkey breast
• 3 Tbsp Simon and Garfunkle spice rub mixed with 2 Tbsp ghee or olive oil to make a wet rub
• Salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp fresh sage chopped finely (optional)
• 1 1/2 C fresh swiss chard chopped roughly, or baby spinach
• 1 Fresh mild or hot italian sausage link removed from casing
• 4 - 5 slices prosciutto
• 1/4 C mild goat cheese or a few slices of provolone
• Salt and pepper

For the gravy

• 1 C chicken broth you may need more during cooking
• a splash of apple juice or white wine
• 2 carrots sliced
• 1/2 onion cut into wedges
• 2 ribs of celery cut into large pieces
• parsley or tyme

Instructions

1. Remove the netting and open up the turkey breast roast if it was already rolled and netted when you bought it
2. Slide your fingers carefully between the skin and the breast. You want to separate the skin from the meat without tearing the skin.
3. Carefully insert half of wet rub under the skin and spread it evenly over the meat with your fingers.
4. Turn the breast over and cover with plastic wrap. Pound it as flat as you can with a heavy pan or a meat pounder.
5. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Lay it on a cutting board crosswise, with the long side toward you.
6. Layer the chopped sage, swiss chard, sausage meat, prosciutto and provolone in a layer on the inside of the breast. Keep the filling away from the far edge so it won't leak out when you roll the breast back up.
7. Carefully roll up the whole thing so that skin side is out. Adjust the skin carefully if needed so it covers as much of the roast as possible.
8. Tie roast and season with salt.
9. Let dry in oven for a few hours uncovered (if you have the time), spread the remaining rub over the whole roast right before cooking.
10. Roast over indirect heat,
11. Fill a small baking pan or foil drip tray with the gravy ingredients and place under the barbecue grates or under the roasting pan grate.
12. Roast at 375° for about 1 1/2 hours. Watch that your drip pan does not boil dry, add more broth if necessary.
13. Remove roast from grill, tent loosely and let rest.
14. Strain your drip pan contents and serve on the side as a thin gravy. Thicken if you must, but I never do.
15. Carve like bread, crosswise