Around the Passover Table (11 page)

Veronese Rolled Turkey Loaf (
Polpettone
)

yield:
8 to 10 servings

Like its poor relation, the Ashkenazi
helzel
(a goose neck filled with fat, flour, and scraps of meat), this refined loaf of boned and rolled turkey (similar to a ballotine) relies on gentle cooking within a pouch sewn of poultry skin to keep the contents moist and succulent.

A favorite for holiday meals, variations of this polpettone are found throughout the Jewish communities of Italy, some calling for additions of ground veal or pistachios, some grinding the turkey instead of cubing it. This version comes from Ester Silvana Israel of Verona, who has gathered the recipes of the city's elderly Jews. It is often featured on Passover menus, surrounded by the Italian spring trio of purple artichokes, mushrooms, and baby peas.

A wonderful alternative to turkey roasted on the bone (many Orthodox and Conservative Jews refrain from eating roast meats at the seder meals), polpettone, bathed in broth and served at room temperature, remains moist and flavorful even during the longest seder.

To make the loaf, the turkey skin is removed, sewn into a neat pouch, and stuffed with cubes of the meat. Although it looks daunting, it is time-consuming rather than difficult. The trickiest task is taking off the skin as nearly intact as possible. Turkey skin is much stronger and more elastic than chicken skin, but you must work carefully and patiently to avoid tearing it.

1 half turkey, skin intact (7 to 10 pounds)

3 or 4 eggs (use 3 if turkey is around 7 pounds, 4 if it weighs closer to 10), beaten

3 or 4 large garlic cloves, finely minced

¹
⁄
₂
teaspoon ground allspice

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 to 10 cups chicken broth, preferably
homemade
, or good-quality, low-sodium
purchased

1 large onion, peeled and quartered

3 large carrots, scraped and quartered

2 celery stalks, including leaves, coarsely chopped

Optional accompaniment:
Green Olive Sauce
(substitute 2 teaspoons mayonnaise for the mustard), or mayonnaise diluted with some of the cooking broth

REMOVE
and discard the clumps of fat around the neck and tail openings. Starting at the neck end, slowly work your hands under the skin, gently easing it away from the flesh. Move your hands all the way down the leg, then, using a small, sharp knife, cut the skin carefully away from the base of the leg. Now slip the skin off the leg, like pulling a sleeve over the turkey's wrist. It's very difficult to cut around the wingtip in the same way, so instead, cut a circle around the shoulder area, and slip the skin down and off the wing. You'll have a big hole there, but you'll patch it up when sewing the pouch. When you have separated all the skin from the body, gently take off whatever excess fat can be removed easily without damaging the skin. Rinse the skin inside and out and pat it dry.

THREAD
a large embroidery needle with strong white cotton thread or dental floss, and using an overcast or loop stitch, sew a few stitches to close up the base of the leg, then sew up the hole left from the wing. Fold the skin in half to make a rectangle. Sew the base and outer edge closed. You should have a neat pocket, open only at the top. (The first time I made this, I was wondering where I would get more skin: surely this would never hold all that turkey flesh. But it stretches quite a bit and is very resilient, so you will be able to fit all the meat into it quite easily.)

SET
the skin aside while you cut all the meat—white and dark—from the turkey carcass and cube it. Cut away the tendons and discard. Include a small amount of turkey fat to help keep the loaf moist. Place the cubed meat in a bowl and stir in the eggs, garlic, allspice, and salt and pepper to taste.

STUFF
the pouch with the meat mixture. Gently push the meat down into the pouch so you have enough room. Using the embroidery needle in an overcast stitch again, sew the top of the pouch closed. Rinse a clean, thin kitchen towel (that has been washed in unscented laundry detergent) or double layer of cheesecloth in cold water and squeeze it out. (I use inexpensive extra-large men's cotton handkerchiefs—they don't shred like cheesecloth and they can be washed and reused.) Place the pouch in the towel or cloth and roll up very tightly. Tie the cloth securely closed in several places: at both ends, in the middle, and between the middle and the ends.

PUT
8 cups of broth in a heavy saucepan large enough to accommodate the filled pouch. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and simmer for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to a slow simmer and add the turkey pouch. If necessary, add more broth so the pouch is covered. Simmer, covered, for 1
¹
⁄
₂
hours.

REMOVE
the pot from the heat. Leave the turkey loaf in the pot, and weight it down with several heatproof plates or one plate with a large weight placed on top. Let cool under the weights until it reaches room temperature. Remove the weights and the cloth covering, and slice the loaf. (If it crumbles, it will still taste delicious.) Moisten each slice with several spoonfuls of the broth. Reduce some of the remaining broth over high heat and spoon over the turkey as sauce before serving. The turkey will be very flavorful, but it will need the broth to stay moist. It's a good idea to keep any leftover loaf submerged under lots of broth.

IF
you want to serve the loaf warm, let it firm up at room temperature first, then reheat it slowly in the broth.

FOR
a more elaborate sauce, serve with
Green Olive Sauce
or some mayonnaise thinned with a little broth.

COOK'S NOTE
: Here is my favorite way to eat this, especially leftovers: simmer lots of chopped Swiss chard, spinach, or even broccoli rabe in some of the broth and spoon the mixture over slices of the turkey loaf arranged in a soup bowl. Then stir a little mayonnaise—or, if you have it on hand, a few spoons of pureed artichoke—into the broth to enrich the sauce. Scrumptious.

Artichoke puree is available jarred in many specialty stores or prepare your own by pureeing jarred artichoke hearts drained of oil (avoid those packed in strong marinade). Or puree cooked, frozen artichoke hearts with a little extra virgin olive oil and season to taste. Artichoke puree, also called artichoke paste, makes a superb substitute for cream or butter when you need to enrich or smooth out a meat or poultry sauce.