Turkey Tater Tot Hotdish
Like any true Minnesotan, I’m a sucker for a hearty hotdish like tater tot hotdish. This is especially true once the mercury starts dropping in the sub-freezing range. Now, I know some of you are wondering what the heck is a hotdish?!? It’s just the Minnesota way of saying casserole. So if you prefer, call this a turkey tot casserole but I’ll still call it turkey tot hotdish… or perhaps turkey totdish? Traditionally, a tater tot hotdish is made with ground beef, cream of mushroom soup and usually some form of vegetable stirred in to make this a one dish meal.
In this little riff on the traditional version, I’ve used ground turkey to make this a little leaner but equally as tasty since turkey also has a nice rich flavor. I avoid any canned soups these days so I use a homemade roasted garlic cream of mushroom soup in this recipe and just thickened it up a bit to be more of a gravy consistency. The other change I’ve made was to use those homemade tater tots I recently made and top it with pickled jalapenos for a little kick! Of course, you can still use the frozen tots in a bag (or use slices of potatoes like in this recipe) but look for tots that are all natural and do not contain preservatives. I personally think the homemade tots take it over the top. Tater tot hotdish with turkey and homemade tots elevates this casserole from church basement potluck to haute comfort food worthy of company.
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, reduced sodium (or coconut aminos)
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup mixed frozen vegetables
- 1 pound tater tots or enough to cover the top of the hotdish
- shredded cheese for garnish, optional
- pickled jalepenos for garnish, optional
- CREAM OF MUSHROOM SOUP:
- 5-8 ounces mixed mushrooms (cremini, shitake, oyster), roughly chopped
- ½-1 head garlic, roasted (or use 4 cloves fresh garlic, minced)
- 2 shallots, minced
- 1 cups low sodium broth of any kind
- ¼ cup dairy cream (or almond milk or coconut milk for dairy-free)
- 2-3 tablespoons tapioca starch or gluten free flour blend, mixed with water to form a slurry
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- fresh ground black pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In a saucepan, saute the mushrooms, shallot and garlic in a small amount of butter or olive oil until mushrooms have given up their moisture and the shallots are softened.
- Add the broth and cream.
- Puree about ¾ of this soup base in a blender or with an immersion (stick) blender and return to the pot to cook.
- In a small dish, mix the starch or flour with a small amount of water to form a slurry slightly thinner than a paste.
- Gradually stir this into the mushroom soup and heat until it becomes a gravy consistency. Turn off heat and let sit until ready to use.
- Meanwhile, in a saute pan, cook the turkey with the onion, worcestershire and pepper until the turkey is fully cooked.
- Stir in frozen veggies and then add the mushroom soup. Stir to combine.
- If your saute pan isn't oven friendly, transfer this to a casserole baking dish.
- Top with a layer of shredded cheese (optional), then a layer of tater tots, and then another layer of shredded cheese (optional).
- Cover baking pan with foil and bake about 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5-10 minutes to toast the tops of the tater tots.
- Serve hot topped with pickled jalepenos!
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