Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese

Well, my house projects are coming along nicely but I feel like I'm going to collapse from exhaustion.  I do have to say that after one year, my bathroom is finally done (and looks great..YEAH!). Also, we had a new banister put in, refinished hardwood floors in three separate rooms and so far this week, I managed to paint the dining room and living room in between running errands and playing Mom taxi. Though with all of this other busy work, it has left little time for me to do much cooking over the last week (good thing I cooked a lot the week before so I had something to post! lol). 

So on Monday I needed to give my back a break from climbing up and down a ladder and decided that would be my "errand day" (I should have stayed home...7 stores later). During one of my stops, I went to Target to pick up two items (yeah right, who can go in there and just buy two things?). I always like to browse through the food isles to see if anything new is out there that I can use to try different things and I hit the jackpot. 

Giada De Laurentiis had come out with a line of pesto made specifically for Target(and apparently it's been out for almost a year but I've never seen it in our local store). She had a couple of different varieties but the Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto caught my eye. It contains olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, basil, Grana cheese, tomatoes, cashews, garlic, salt, vinegar, and pine nuts. Now I could have just made this myself but being so busy lately, I purchased it thinking I could just make it with pasta one night in a pinch. 

Then I got home and my 40+ brain had forgotten that I had taken out a Turkey London Broil for dinner already. I didn't want it to go to waste since it was in the refrigerator for 2 days already and I needed to do something with it. (Here's a picture of what it actually looks like if you've never seen it. Basically, it's just the breast meat from a turkey and is usually 1 1/2-2 lbs so it's the perfect size to feed my family of 4). I decided to slice the turkey and flatten it so that I could stuff it. I used the pesto and found some leftover Asiago cheese in the refrigerator. INCREDIBLE...though how can you go wrong with sun dried tomatoes and Asiago cheese! This was so easy and quick to prepare and as you can see, hardly any ingredients. I used the wine to put in the bottom of the pan so that I could baste the turkey with it while it was cooking but you could also just use some chicken broth or water, you just don't want it to dry out. 

Turkey Stuffed with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto & Asiago Cheese

1 1/2 lb. Turkey London Broil

1/2 c. Giada De Laurentiis Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (or you could make your own)

1/2. c. Shredded Asiago Cheese

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic Powder, to taste

Kosher Salt, to taste

Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1/2 c. White Wine

Using a sharp knife (I use my Wusthof, ok free product plug here), carefully slice the meat horizontally into about a 1/2" thickness, unraveling it until it it flat. Gently pound with a meat mallet to get even thickness, spread the pesto and sprinkle with the cheese. Next, roll up the turkey from right to left (or left to right if you're a lefty like my Mom), and tie with kitchen string to secure. 

Place in a baking dish, brush with olive oil then sprinkle the top with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add the wine to the baking dish and bake at 350°F for approximately 1 hour 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 165°F. Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 4. 

Enjoy!

Kalamata Olives & Havarti Chicken Burgers with Oregano Fried Potatoes

I know...a weird combination but they were actually very tasty(even though the olives look like cherries in the picture). However, if I make these again, I'll probably make a couple of changes.

1. Use a regular grill vs. my indoor one(it was raining and I didn't feel like standing outside). By the time I got decent grill marks on my burgers, they were a little dried out.

2. Use a slightly less olives. Kalamata olives are VERY potent and you have to really like their flavor or it could be a little too much.

Kalamata Olives & Havarti Chicken Burgers
1 lb. Ground Chicken
2oz. Havarti Cheese, diced in small pieces
1 tbsp. Fresh Rosemary, chopped
12 Kalamata Olives, pitted and chopped
1 Clove Garlic
2 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix all ingredients together until well blended and form 4 patties. Grill until internal temperature reaches a minimum of 165 degrees. Serves 4.





Next, I was in the mood for some french fries with our burgers so instead of the traditional way, I cut them up into small cubes, fried them, then tossed them in a mixture of salt, pepper and oregano...Yum!

Oregano Fried Potatoes
5-6 Medium Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes
1/2 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 c. Canola Oil
2 tsp. Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
1/4 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper

In a large frying pan, heat the oil and add the potatoes. Allow potatoes to get golden brown, remove from the oil and drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag to remove excess oil. In a separate bowl, mix together your seasonings and add the cooked potatoes. Toss well. Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans & Dried Cherries in a Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette

This salad is so simple to make and you can add just about anything you wish to it but I happened to have a few extra candied pecans left from when I made the biscotti so I tossed in some of those, with some dried cherries and this was a great, quick dinner salad. For the hard boiled eggs, simply put the eggs into a pan of cold water and let them come to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, set your timer for 6 minutes then "test" the egg before cooling them by spinning it. Ok for those of you new to this technique, I found a video on You Tube . But basically, the way to tell if your egg is hard boiled or not is to try spinning it on the narrow point of the egg. If it falls to the side, it's not cooked all the way. If it spins upright, then it's hard boiled. Once cooked, cool the egg by placing it in cold water with some ice to speed the process. Refrigerate until you're ready to slice.

Spinach Salad with Candied Pecans & Dried Cherries in a Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
10oz. Bag Fresh Spinach
1/4 c. Candied Pecans
1/2 c. Dried Cherries
10 Baby Carrots, sliced
2 Hard Boiled Eggs, sliced
1 Cucumber, peeled and sliced
Prepared Vinaigrette

Wash spinach, remove stems and gently tear the leaves and place into a large bowl. Add the pecans, cherries, carrots, eggs and cucumbers. Add the prepared vinaigrette and toss coating all of the leaves. Serves 4.



Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
1/4 c. Balsamic Vinegar
2 tbsp. Stone Ground Mustard (I used Inglehoffer)
1/2 c. Canola Oil

Whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Makes 3/4 cup.

Enjoy!