This Turkey Roll, filled with potato mousse, black olives, sun-dried tomatoes, topped with roasted bell pepper sauce, is just traditional enough to satisfy our comfort food intake needs at this time of year while also adding a flavorful twist.
We all know the importance of the traditional Christmas turkey, but this recipe brings a different, Mediterranean flavor to the classic dish. You will impress your guests for sure this year with this recipe, which will serve four people.
Ingredients for the Christmas turkey roll and potato mousse:
700 grams of sliced turkey breast
2 potatoes
80 grams of pitted black olives
80 grams of sundried tomatoes
1 glass of white wine
salt and pepper
olive oil
Ingredients for the sauce:
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 clove of garlic
paprika
salt and pepper
To make the Christmas turkey roll:
Boil potatoes with skin on until soft. Once cooked, peel and add them to a blender along with the olives and sun-dried tomatoes.
Blend until smooth, adding a teaspoon of salt, ground pepper, and extra virgin olive oil to taste.
Roll out a layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil, and lay your (thin) turkey slices on top of each other, overlapping them slightly, until you create a complete layer, with no gaps between the slices. Place the already prepared potato mousse mixture in the center of the slices.
At this point, carefully roll the meat, forming a cylinder, with the help of the foil.
Add two more layers of foil to seal the turkey well, leaving no gaps whatsoever; let the turkey roll rest for 1 hour in the fridge.
Then plunge the entire turkey roll inside its foil wrapping into hot water (without coming to a boil) for 10 to 15 minutes. Take it out carefully, then remove the foil and place the turkey roll in a baking dish.
Spoon extra virgin olive oil on top, and sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper atop it as well; bake for 20 minutes in a preheated oven at 420 degrees Fahrenheit.
Halfway through cooking, pour the white wine onto the top of the roll and finish cooking after pouring two tablespoons of oil over the turkey. Once done, cover the turkey and let it rest for a few minutes. Meanwhile, make your red pepper sauce.
To make the sauce:
Clean your peppers and cut them into irregular slices.
In a saucepan, heat the extra virgin olive oil and sauté the peppers with a crushed clove of garlic. Add a teaspoon of sweet paprika, a teaspoon of salt and ground pepper.
Continue cooking, without adding liquid, until the peppers have a caramelized color. Then, cover the peppers with cold water and cook until soft and the water has almost completely evaporated.
Once cooked, blend them while still hot, then pass the mixture through a sieve and your sauce is ready. Remember to taste before serving in case you would like to add more salt and pepper. Then cut the turkey roll into slices and serve, topped with the sauce.
Have fun cooking and happy holidays!
Giorgio Pintzas Monzani is a Greek-Italian chef, writer and consultant who lives in Milan. His Instagram page can be found here.