Slow Cooker

Stuffed Turkey Breast Marsala (or Poor Man's Veal)

February 24, 2013
4.4
11 Ratings
Photo by Tom Hirschfeld/bonafidefarmfood.com
  • Serves 5 or 6
Author Notes

There are several things about this dish I really like. The stuffing is mature. What do I mean by that? Well, for me, most stuffing I eat reminds me of being a kid and is to a certain degree, kid friendly. This stuffing while kid friendly lends a mature flavor to the entire dish. I also like the fact that the turkey only takes about 45 minutes to bake unlike a whole stuffed bird. The marsala sauce is rich in that wonderful raisiny way marsala is but when combined with the little hits of currant in the stuffing, the garlic and green onions is is sublime. I would shy away from mashed potatoes as a side dish for this. I think they would just be cloying while a simple noodle, nothing heavy, would be delicious. —thirschfeld

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 single lobe turkey breast with skin (about 3 pounds)
  • 1/3 cup shallots, small dice
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup serrano ham (3 thin slices), minced
  • 2 tablespoons pine nuts
  • 1 tablespoon flat leaf parsley, minced
  • 1 tablespoon green onion, white and green parts, minced
  • 2 tablespoons currants
  • 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs, or half a gluten-free bagel dried and crumbled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon cold water
  • 1/2 cup good quality marsala
  • 1 cup poultry stock
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons each of all purpose flour and unsalted butter, mixed to a paste
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon parsley, minced
Directions
  1. NOTE: A beurre manie is nothing more than equal parts flour to butter all smushed together to make a paste. What the butter does is coat the flour so it doesn't clump when you add it to a sauce. The job it is meant to do is thicken the sauce. Once the sauce has thickened, you want to gently simmer the sauce so it cooks out any possible flour taste. In other words, you need to give it time to cook adequately.
  2. Place a saute pan over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil and, once it is hot, add the shallots. Cook the shallots until they just begin to soften, then add the ham and garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the pine nuts, currants, and bread crumbs. Stir. Season the stuffing with black pepper and salt. Stir again, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Once the crumbs have become toasted, remove the stuffing from the heat. Let the stuffing cool.
  3. Set the turkey breast onto a cutting board skin side up. Using a fillet knife and starting on the straight side, insert it into the breast from the fat end to the thin end being very careful to keep the knife centered. If you poke a whole don't freak, the skin will hold it all in. What you are doing is making a pocket for the stuffing, but you want the pocket to be as big as possible so there is stuffing throughout the length of the breast. Now, using the knife, make several long sweeping cuts in order to make the pocket.
  4. Heat the oven to 350?F. Once the stuffing is cool, add the egg, tablespoon of water, and parsley. Mix to combine. Stuff the breast, then wrap the skin around the whole thing and truss. Season with salt and pepper on both sides.
  5. Oil an oven-proof saute pan with a smidge of oil. Wipe it around with a paper towel, coating the bottom surface. Place the breast into the pan with the seam side of the skin down.
  6. Bake the breast for 30 minutes. Remove the pan (use an oven mitt, the handle is super hot), from the oven and then remove the turkey breast to a small sheet tray with sides. Place the turkey back into the oven.
  7. While the breast is baking for the final 15 to 20 minutes place the saute pan onto a burner. Remember the handle is smoking hot so use a dry towel or oven mitt.
  8. Turn the heat to medium high and add the marsala. If the pan is really hot, the marsala may flame, so be careful. Reduce the marsala by half. Add the stock.
  9. Bring the stock to a boil and let it reduce by 1/3. In the end you want about a cup of sauce. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Taste again and adjust the seasoning.
  10. Check the turkey breast. If it is done remove it from the oven and let it rest, covered with foil, for 10 minutes. Finish up with what ever sides you are working on.
  11. Bring the sauce to a boil and add the beurre manie. Whisk it in to thicken the sauce and add the parsley. Stir again. Let the sauce gently simmer to cook out any flour taste. Slice the turkey then sauce a platter,and finally, fan the turkey across the top. Serve.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Lilismom
    Lilismom
  • KLM
    KLM
  • glammie
    glammie
  • marmugster
    marmugster
  • Anne Christensen Napolitano
    Anne Christensen Napolitano

11 Reviews

Lilismom July 20, 2022
Utterly delicious. All of your recipes are great but this was amazing. Thank you.
 
KLM November 27, 2020
Excellent recipe! I had never made a turkey breast before and thought it would be a perfect thing for US Thanksgiving this year, since everything is different. I ordered the smallest breast, which was 4.5 lbs. I doubled the stuffing and cooked it a bit longer. The turkey came out moist and the stuffing was so delicious. I may make this again for Christmas. Thank you for the recipe!
 
KLM November 27, 2020
Excellent recipe! I had never made a turkey breast before and thought it would be a perfect thing for US Thanksgiving this year, since everything is different. I ordered the smallest breast, which was 4.5 lbs. I doubled the stuffing and cooked it a bit longer. The turkey came out moist and the stuffing was so delicious. I may make this again for Christmas. Thank you for the recipe!
 
glammie October 12, 2020
Made this today (Canadian Thanksgiving) and it came out great. A few mishaps: I had the butcher prepare the turkey breast and when I picked it up, he told me it was a little bigger than I ordered. It was SIX POUNDS! Unfortunately, I didn't open the bag and didn't find out it was enormous until I went to stuff it. Had I known how big it was, I would have doubled the stuffing, which I prepped the night before.

The store was sold out of pine nuts so I used chopped walnuts I had in the freezer. Used diced prosciutto for the pork. Used a couple tablespoons of homemade chicken broth in lieu of water.

Assembled easily and I baked at 350 for 90 minutes (since it was double the size called for in the recipe). As another reviewer mentioned, it was not as dark as I would have liked but it was cooked to a turn. Turkey was moist and tender.

Will re-do at Christmas and won't change a think except maybe broil the breast for a couple minutes to crisp up the skin. Kudos to the recipe developer.
 
Olga L. November 23, 2018
Very good recipe, the stuffing is exceptional. I thought cook time is a little low if the turkey is cooked from fridge temperature. I would add at least 15 min. Also, I think I would crisp up the skin on the skillet before sending it into the oven. It was cooked wonderfully but just a touch pale. The stuffing was awesome.
 
marmugster November 24, 2017
Just wanted to say thank you for this recipe. It was the best turkey breast i've ever made and it isn't as hard as it looks.
 
thirschfeld December 1, 2017
Thanks, I am so glad you liked it!
 
marmugster November 23, 2017
When do you add the green onions?
 
Jill November 28, 2013
I made this today. It was wonderful!
 
Anne C. March 2, 2013
The currants are missing from the ingredient list. I'm trying this tomorrow!
 
TasteofOregon February 24, 2013
Glorious and elegant looking - must try. Thanks.