So, today I'm going to show you how to make a White Bean and Turkey Polpettone with braised Swiss Chard.
This is really a turkey meatloaf and its an Italian style and I'm incorporating the blend-ability of white beans in a couple of ways.
Let's start with the base. It's about a 1/4 cup of olive oil.
And I'm on Medium High Heat right here, because I want to get some caramelization with my vegetables.
I always start with a pinch of salt, which draws out a little bit of moisture.
Pinch of pepper for flavor.
And just to... stir it to make sure it's coated with the olive oil.
Alright, spread it out. I'm gonna let this cook for awhile.
In the meantime, I want to crush my garlic. And give it a quick chop.
[Chopping sounds]
Alright, stir that garlic in.
And I don't want to disturb this too much while I'm sautéing it, because I do want the color that's adding flavor to my turkey meatloaf.
Okay, so a major component to the meatloaf is this panade -- or it's a mixture of bread that's been soaked in milk.
So, this is just to help bind it. And we're also going to be using some of the white beans as a binder.
So I just wanna kinda get this in here. And soak it for about ten or fifteen minutes until it's soft.
And then this is going to go in with the base of this for our meatloaf.
Alright, we'll set that aside, and I'll stir that every once in a while.
So, for the scallions, I'm just going to give these a quick mince.
And I'm just going to use them up to the green part. I'm going to save the rest for a stock.
[Chopping sounds]
I'm looking for about three tablespoons of Italian parsley.
Roughly chopped.
So, very flavorful filling here, with the turkey and the white beans. Something that could be made ahead of time. And baked the day of.
I'm looking for about three to four tablespoons of fresh oregano.
And any other fresh herbs you have in your garden would make this very tasty.
In the mean time, I've got about a pound and a half of ground turkey, here.
And I'm gonna add all my fresh, chopped herbs and scallions.
I'm gonna go add my tomatoes. And these are just canned tomatoes. They're crushed.
My grated pecorino cheese.
My salt and pepper.
Okay, so these vegetables are getting a little bit of color. That's what I'm looking for.
I'm gonna go ahead and turn off the heat.
This is the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and olive oil.
And now I'm gonna add half the white beans.
So about a cup.
And just with the back of my wooden spoon, I'm going to crush these.
[Wooden spoon hitting cast iron pot]
[Blender sounds]
I'm going to take this mixture and cool it slightly. Then I'll mix it with my turkey.
Form it. And get it into the oven.
Okay, our panade - or our vegetable mixture - has had a chance to cool.
Here is our turkey mixture with out herbs, scallions and cheese in it.
So, all I want to do is add - this - straight to - there.
And I'm gonna go ahead and mix this...... To combine....
And I'm actually going to use my hands here -- my gloved hands -- to kind of knead this together into a homogenized texture.
And as soon as I think this looks like it's combined nicely, I'll add my white beans.
And what we're trying to do is kinda lower the overall fat. We're using a lean protein here - turkey - incorporating a protein with a bean
and making a really nice dish that could be served as a lunch or a light dinner.
Alright, so this is what it should look like.
I'll add the remaining cup of white beans.
Alright, the beans are adding a nice creamy texture. And kind of another flavor component to this.
And what I want to do is, I kinda want to roast this as a loaf, instead of putting it into a loaf pan. I'm going to roast it.
Little bit of olive oil.... Gonna brush my pan with this.
My oven is preheated. Ready to go.
Just making a free-form turkey polpettone.
And I'm gonna go ahead and brush it with my remaining olive oil.
Alright. I'm going to place this in the oven and bake it for 60-70 minutes.
Let's make our swiss chard sauce!
This is something that I, uh....I always cook swiss chard with a little bit of onion, a little garlic,
And in this case, I'm going to add some roasted red peppers and a little bit of tomato sauce, and I think this will go perfectly with the turkey white bean meatloaf.
Alright, so.... Hot pan.
Olive oil.
Diced onions.
Chopped garlic.
I'm gonna cook this down until I get a little bit of color.
On both the onion and the garlic.
And then I'm gonna go ahead and add my swiss chard.
I've taken the stems off of this. But I just want to do a quick chop on it.
So, all you gotta do is put it on the cutting board, and kinda watch your fingers.... And this is gonna be a rough chop......
You can use other greens, like collard greens or kale, but it's kinda a hearty green dish.
So, all of this will wilt down to about a quarter of the size.
Alright, just until the onions and garlic start to color.
And this is about one bunch of swiss chard.
Yup, let's go with that, right there, that's enough.
So, about three to four cups.
Little bit of salt to draw out the moisture and season it.
And I'm still cooking it on high heat, right now, just to kinda wilt this swiss chard.
I can add my roasted red peppers.
Alright, that's what it should be looking like..... right as the swiss chard starts to cook down.
We'll add our tomato sauce.
Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and turn off the heat until our turkey meatloaf is done.
And then, we will add our chopped margium, at the last second for flavor.
Alright, let's take a look at our turkey meatloaf.
Our white bean turkey polpettone has had a chance to come out of the oven. Looks like it's got some great color.
And it's rested for about ten minutes.
Bring the juices back to the center.
And our swiss chard marinara sauce is tasty. Looks great.
Alright, so let's get this.....
So, just a little bit of this swiss chard marinara
So, here you go. You have a white bean turkey polpettone with a braised swiss chard and marinara sauce. Enjoy.