Skillet Turkey Alfredo

 

Skillet Turkey Alfredo.  I really love skillet meals like this delicious one pan pasta dish which makes great use of leftovers and store cupboard ingredients.

I love these type of dishes for several reasons.  One, they help me to use up my leftovers in a really delicious way.  Secondly, I almost always have everything I need to make them in my cupboards, larder or refrigerator. 

 

Thirdly, I love that they are no fuss and no muss. Everything cooks in the same pan, even the pasta.

They are so easy to throw together and are usually very quickly cooked as well.  They are also really easy to reduce, or small-batch into recipes which feed only one or two people, which is exactly what I did today.

 

Not only that, but they are usually quite adaptable.  For instance you can use either cooked turkey in this dish, or you can also use cooked chicken, or even cubed cooked ham.  All are equally delicious! 

I had cooked a turkey breast at the weekend and wanted to use it up and this was the perfect way to do just that!  Perfectly cooked pasta, plenty of turkey, a creamy sauce, some pasta and one of your five a day.  You can't beat it.  

 

Oh and lets not forget the bacon!  Doesn't everything with bacon taste better?  I dare say it does.  I have yet to find a food that doesn't go with, or taste better with bacon!

I always have bacon in my freezer.  Sometimes I will cook the whole package and then freeze it, ready to take cooked slices out to use in recipes, sandwiches, etc.  Or other times I will just freeze the bacon in individual slices.

 

How I do this is I take each slice of bacon and coil it into a roll and place it onto a baking sheet.  I pop it into the freezer and once it is frozen solid, I transfer all of the rolls into a thick freezer bag.  They do not stick together in the bag and are very easily chopped from frozen.

Have you ever tried to chop bacon that isn't frozen or cooked?  VERY difficult. I promise you if you do this, you will have a problem chopping it no more!

 

It took me no time at all today to chop and cook my bacon for this recipe. No time at all.  

I love recipes where the pasta cooks right in the sauce.  They are so easy and you don't have to dirty up an extra pan cooking the pasta.  They always cook to perfection and having absorbed some of the cooking liquor, the pasta always tastes great! 

 

I have used fusilli here, but you can use penne, or any other similar type of pasta in the same quantity. It cooks right in the sauce.  You only need to cook it to al dente, well actually about a minute short of al dente.

Most good pastas will tell you on the bag the required amount of time to cook their product to al dente.  Mine was Garofalo Fusilli, and it said 11 minutes to al dente, so I cooked it for 10.  

 

The pasta cooks in the mixture of cream and stock, along with some onions and garlic.  This gives it a really nice flavor.

Once the pasta has cooked, it is time to add the turkey, cooked bacon, some frozen peas and some cheese into the mix.

 

Then you heat the dish through for a further two to three minutes. Long enough to melt the cheese, heat everything through, thaw the peas, etc.  You will have pasta perfection.

The sauce may seem a little bit loose, but don't worry, it thickens up nicely upon standing.

 

Do try to grate your own cheese for this dish.  Use a good Parmesan. Not the stuff in the green tube or pre-grated cheese.  They add things to those products to help them flow easier.

This can mess with the integrity of your dish.  They can give a granular result which you won't find very appealing.

 

Also be very judicious when adding salt to the dish.  Bacon is a salty ingredient, so is Parmesan cheese.  You may not need much salt if any.

Plenty of pepper is okay though. I do so love plenty of pepper.

 

I adore frozen peas.  I only ever buy the petit/baby frozen peas. They are always perfect.  I find that when you buy the larger peas you can often get starchy or wooden textured peas in the mix and I hate that.

I am not a huge fan of peas that come from the tin, or that are old and woody textured. When we were children my mother found a dead cricket in the bottom of a can of peas once.  That put me off of eating tinned peas altogether. 

 

I thought I hated peas until I tasted frozen ones at a Girl Guide Banquet once.  The armed forces base I lived on had put on a turkey dinner for the mothers and daughters and there was frozen peas on the plate. 

I remember being quite amazed at how bright green and delicious they were.  They converted me back to liking peas. Well, at least frozen baby peas at any rate!  (Yes, I am a bit fussy I know!  But I like what I like!)

I really hope that you will be encouraged to try this quick, easy and delicious one pan meal for two and soon!  I think you will find it really tasty and it is sure to become a firm favorite in your repertoire. 

If you are wanting to feed more than two, simply double the ingredients to serve 4, triple to serve 6.  The cook timings will stay the same.

A nice salad is excellent on the side of this and I would never turn down a slice of garlic bread or crusty bread is offered one!  Leftovers never tasted so good!! Bon Appetit!

 

Skillet Turkey Alfredo

Yield: 2

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 17 Mininactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 27 Min

Meals such as this simple, quick skillet meal are my favorites. Everything cooks all together in one pan. No fuss, no muss. You can substitute the cooked turkey for cooked chicken or ham. This is delicious!

Ingredients

• 2 slices of bacon chopped
• 1/2 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock
• 1/2 cup (120ml) heavy cream
• 3 ounces (85g/3/4 cup) pasta, uncooked (penne or fusilli work great)
• pinch each salt and  black pepper
• 1/2 pound (230g) cooked turkey, ham or chicken, cubed
• 1/2 cup (75g) frozen peas, unthawed
• 1/3 cup (54g) grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1. Heat a medium skillet with a lid over moderate heat. Add the bacon.  Cook, stirring frequently, until crisp. Remove and drain off all but 1/2 TBS of the fat.
2. Add the onion to the fat in the pan, and cook, stirring frequently, until golden.  Add the  crushed garlic and cook for about 30 seconds longer.
3. Stir in the stock, cream and pasta.  Bring to the boil, then reduce to low, cover and simmer until the pasta is just barely al dente according to the package directions. (Mine was Garafalo Fusilli and it took 10 minutes.)
4. Stir in the turkey, cooked bacon, frozen peas and cheese.  Combine well. Cook for a further2 to 3 minutes to heat through and melt the cheese.
5. Remove from the heat and leave to stand for 5 minutes. The sauce should thicken upon standing. Serve hot to two very appreciative people!

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