Inspired by the American stuffed turkey recipe, here are my turkey croquettes. Crispy autumn-scented meatballs, to be dipped in a delicious cranberry sauce.

And what if the turkey filling of Thanksgiving, instead of being hidden, became the protagonist of the dish? Here is the idea behind these turkey croquettes, a pantry and recovery recipe that is super easy to prepare, to reuse stale bread and leftover meat scraps.

And as with any self-respecting stuffed turkey, these bread, meat and chestnut meatballs are also paired with cranberry sauce, a cranberry sauce delicately flavored with cinnamon and orange zest.

The basis of these turkey meatballs are simple ingredients that we all have at home, in the full style of the project I open the pantry and cook. To potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, eggs and stale bread, you can add chestnuts, dehydrated red fruits and pieces of cooked turkey meat.

As with all my pantry recipes, it is a very versatile preparation: in fact, you can also prepare it with leftover chicken, roast beef or pork … or without meat, for a vegetarian version.

THE SECRET OF MY CRANBERRY SAUCE

Cooking in the oven makes them digestible, the quick turn in the final pan gives it that irresistible crunchy crust, but it is the cranberry sauce that perfectly closes the circle of flavors and textures.

To make it I used jam from Cranberry of the Fiordifrutta line of Rigoni di Asiago, made with cranberries that grow spontaneously on marginal and marshy soils. These are deep red berries with a pleasantly sour and delicately bitter taste, perfect in combination with savory preparations.

I used this jam to reproduce the classic American cranberry sauce, to which I added black pepper, cinnamon powder and organic orange zest.

This recipe is part of the project “A pantry day with Fiordifrutta, in which me and the girls of the team I open the pantry and cook we have created 5 recipes, one for each moment of the day.

From Monica's breakfast – lalunaspoon to Luisa's dessert – tacchiepentole, passing through Cristina's snack – goodfoodlab and Valentina's dinner – lacucinachevale. Not forgetting the delicious lunch with my Thanksgiving turkey croquettes.

post made in collaboration with Rigoni di Asiago

ingredients for 20 turkey croquettes

THING

for the meatballs

• 300 g of stale bread
• 1 carrot
• 1 shallot
• 100 g of cooked turkey meat
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 medium potato
• 250 ml of milk (also vegetable)
• 2 eggs
• 50 g of boiled chestnuts
• a spoonful of dried cranberries
• a bunch of mixed aromatic herbs (oregano, rosemary, sage, marjoram, thyme)
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• Salt and Pepper To Taste

for the cranberry sauce

HOW TO PREPARE BREAD AND TURKEY MEATBALLS

First, I soaked 250 g of stale bread in milk and let it rest in the refrigerator for about half an hour. With the 50 g left over, I made the breadcrumbs, with the help of a food processor.

In the meantime, I finely chopped the carrot, potato, garlic and shallot and I sautéed in a non-stick pan with a drizzle of oil. I blended with a little water, lowered the heat, salted and peppered, continuing to cook for about 10 minutes, allowing the liquids to dry completely. I removed from the heat and let it cool.

After half an hour I squeezed the bread, now soft, eliminating any excess milk, I combined the eggs, the crumbled chestnuts with my hands, the now warm sauté, the chopped herbs and dried cranberries. At this point I also added the turkey meat cooked, shredded or chopped as much as possible. I mixed carefully, adding, if necessary, the breadcrumbs kept aside to give consistency and adjusting with salt and pepper.

With wet hands, I formed my turkey meatballs and placed them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and baked at 180 degrees for 20 minutes.
In the meantime I took care of the sauce, emulsifying the jam with the spices and adding the orange peel (to be chosen strictly organic with edible peel, not treated) grated with a zester and part of its juice until it becomes fluid (but not too liquid ).

As soon as it was cooked in the oven, in the same pan as the sautéed, I heated another two tablespoons of oil and browned the meatballs until golden and crisp. I served them with cranberry sauce, fresh herbs and some orange zest.

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