As I mentioned previously, we celebrated Thanksgiving away from home this year. While our Italian dinner of lasagna, spaghetti, and meatballs was enjoyed, we missed having a turkey dinner. We returned home just after midnight on Sunday, giving us a day to catch up before returning to our regular schedule on Monday. With a whole day at home, it seemed the perfect time to make a turkey dinner.
We learned that shopping on the Sunday after Thanksgiving doesn’t leave many choice for fresh turkeys. While there were at least half a dozen available, all of them weighed between 19 and 20 pounds. Who were we to let the size of the turkey stop us from making a delicious dinner? And with four of us for dinner that night, did 19 pounds really seem that big?
Obviously, we knew the turkey was huge for four diners, but enjoying (or suffering through) leftovers is part of the fun of a big turkey dinner, isn’t it? So, we enjoyed our turkey dinner on Sunday, made turkey salad sandwiches for lunch, had hot turkey sandwiches for dinner, and made a big pot of turkey stock. Some of the stock was frozen, some was used in a simple turkey noodle soup, and another portion was used to make this phenomenal soup.
Although we made this soup with leftover turkey and turkey broth, it easily could be changed to a chicken-based soup. I suppose it even could be made into a vegetarian soup, using vegetable broth and substituting noodles for the turkey. Regardless to how you make this soup, the marsala wine really makes this difference in the flavor, and you wouldn’t want to remove that.
- 1 Tb. olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 celery stalks
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2/3 pound mushrooms (combination of cremini, oyster, and shiitake), diced
- 6 cups turkey stock
- 1 cup marsala wine
- 2-3 cups cooked turkey, diced
- salt & pepper
- Put olive oil in a large soup pot, and place over medium heat.
- Add onion and celery, and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add garlic and mushrooms, and sauté for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Add broth, wine, turkey, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste, and simmer for at least 30 minutes to allow flavors to meld.
I love turkey meat, but the process of cooking it is just too tedious for me, maybe its because I do not have enough time dedicated for cooking or am just not a cooking freak. One day I will set some time just to try your recipe, the turkey masala soup surely looks delicious.