RECIPE: Turkey pesto

I don’t know about you, but there’s only so much turkey soup and sandwiches I can handle before I’m done with Thanksgiving leftovers. So a couple of months ago, at an Italian restaurant on the pier in Monterey, I had a great idea for a dish to use up some of the leftover turkey. Tonight, I threw it together in about a half an hour, creating a delicious (and not at all Thanksgiving-like) meal!

Pesto Turkey (or Chicken) Pasta

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/4 of a diced sweet or yellow onion
1 cooked turkey breast, cut across the grain, then shredded
4 ounces of pesto
1 ounce of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 ounces of half and half or whole milk
shredded fresh parmesan cheese
1 box of rigatoni pasta, cooked al dente according to package directions, then drained

Directions:
Heat olive oil in large saute pan. When it is hot, add the onions and mushrooms. You want some color, but not too brown. When the mushrooms get a little caramelization on them, add the shredded turkey to the pan. It can also brown a little, but mostly heat it through. Add pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and cream, mixing all ingredients. Once everything is heated through, add it to the drained pasta in a bowl and toss. Top each serving with shredded parmesan, according to taste.

Depending on how your adventurous your family’s tastebuds are, other ingredients that I think would go well in this are artichoke hearts  asparagus. But doing it this way created a subtle, tasty meal.

Serves 4