The Dish | Sugo di Tacchino

This dish has been a long time family favorite — especially when fall and winter hit and the temperature dips. For the uninitiated, tacchino translates to turkey, which means it’s better for you than its beef or pork cousins. While delicious eaten the day it’s made, the sauce is even better a day or two afterwards when the flavors have come together. It can be served over your choice of zucchini ‘zoodles,’ pasta or polenta. Pro tip: double the recipe up and freeze half of it. Buon appetito!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/4 lb ground turkey
  • 2 cups canned Italian style whole plum tomatoes (35 oz)
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup sun dried tomato pesto
  • 1/2 cup diced sun dried tomatoes
  • pinch of hot pepper flakes
  • 1 small onion, finely diced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup dry red wine
  • 1 tsp of fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp of fresh sage, finely chopped
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sliced mushrooms
  • 1/3 cup capers
  • 12 pitted kalamata olives, sliced
  • 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • salt to taste
  • freshly ground pepper to taste
  • grated parmesan
  • Choice of zoodles, pasta or polenta

DIRECTIONS:

  • Purée tomatoes in a blender or food processor.
  • Heat oil in heavy saucepan and drop in the red pepper flakes. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook lightly (do not brown). Add turkey and cook continuously stirring until no longer pink. Pour in wine and cook approximately 1 minute at high heat. Stir in tomatoes, thyme, sage and keep at high heat for five minutes. Add mushrooms, capers, olives, pesto, sun dried tomatoes and reduce heat to simmer.
  • Simmer until sauce is slightly thickened about 20 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Ladle sauce over your choice of zoodles, pasta, or polenta. Sprinkle grated parmesan and parsley on top.

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