When you're in the mood for a quick second course, it's difficult to make something tasty with a short cooking time and without involving a thousand frying pans - especially when a special ingredient like truffles is involved - but with this quick dish you'll be able to impress all your guests in just over half an hour and without too much difficulty :)
Table of contents
- The ingredients
- Preparation
- Recipe
- Alternatives
Ingredients for 4 persons
- turkey breast: 800 g
- raw ham (air dried ham like Parma ham): 100 g
- black truffle: 40 g
- brandy: one cup
- butter: 60 g
- Fontina cheese: 100 g
- breadcrumbs: to taste
- milk: to taste
- salt: to taste
- pepper: to taste
Preparation
Turkey breast with truffles can be made in many different ways, but the one we suggest is really as quick as it appears. To make this dish quick and easy, however, it needs proper preparation. The turkey will have to be cooked in two stages: a quick roast in a frying pan and then in the oven for about 15 minutes. Next, prepare a sufficiently large frying pan and baking tray in which all the turkey slices can be placed. Prepare all the ingredients, carefully portioned, in several containers.
One thing that must be given special attention is cleaning the black truffle: unlike the white one, you can gently remove all the soil residues under a trickle of lukewarm water with a small brush, afterwards you have to dry it with a clean cloth.
Recipe
To make a turkey stuffed turkey breast with truffles you will have to follow several steps, but they are all very quick; with a small effort, in less than 40 minutes your tasty second course will be on the table, ready to serve.
- First, cut the turkey into slices and pound them until they are about 1 cm thick. Calculate at least 2 slices of turkey per guest and adjust accordingly.
- Before you start pan-frying, you need to prepare the mixture. Then chop the ham finely.
- Remove the rind from the fontina cheese and cut it into very small cubes (they will have to fit inside the rolled turkey slices).
- Clean the truffle and then finely chop most of it, taking care to leave about a quarter to slice over each plate at the end of cooking, before serving.
- Meanwhile, turn the oven on to 180 °C.
- Place two handfuls of breadcrumbs in the milk and squeeze them out to remove excess milk, then put them in a bowl and add the prosciutto, egg and fontina cheese (don't put all of it in straight away, check gradually by turning with a fork that the mixture is coming together smoothly).
- When you have found the right balance for the mixture, add salt and pepper to taste and mix well with a fork. The mixture should neither be too liquid (otherwise you won't be able to stuff the turkey) nor too thick.
- Melt three quarters of the butter in the frying pan over a low heat. Once the butter has melted, turn up the heat and fry the turkey slices.
- Turn them over after less than a minute and sprinkle them with brandy. After a quick browning remove them from the pan and place them in the roasting tin.
- Divide the previously prepared mixture over each turkey slice, roll it up inside and close the slice with a toothpick.
- Put the remaining butter in the baking dish, add 2/3 tablespoons of water, one of brandy and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Halfway through cooking, turn the slices over and check that they are not too dry. If so, pour some of the gravy over each slice or add spoonfuls of water.
- When cooked, place the stuffed turkey slices on plates, pour a little sauce over each plate and decorate with the remaining truffle slices.
Alternatives
Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? It's all show! In reality, once you know the steps, turkey with truffles becomes really simple and quick to make.
A tasty alternative would be to deglaze the turkey with raisin wine (a kind of dessert wine from partially dried grapes) instead of brandy, or add an alcoholic ingredient of your choice, avoiding if possible red wine, which, in my opinion, doesn't go well with it. Besides, it all becomes purplish. :) Instead of Fontina cheese you can use Parmesan and instead of butter you can use olive oil. There are so many possible alternatives, all you need is a bit of imagination and the caution not to include ingredients that would cover up the delicious flavour of the black truffle.
