TURKEY LEFTOVER PIE WITH CRANBERRY-DATE STUFFING

Turkey Leftover Pie with Cranberry-Date Stuffing image

I had a bunch of turkey leftovers (and leftover ingrediants) and I wanted to do something different with them this year. I read a bunch of recipes to learn what other people were doing. This is what I came up with. I think you can improvised just like I did to make your own signature dish. I hope my recipe helps guide you, but let your own taste-buds and intuition do the rest. This is what makes cooking so fun. Lastly, it cuts easier into slice when it is cooled in the fridge. I cut mine up into single servings so I can freeze them for later. Also this is also delicious eaten cold.

Provided by Gina Mindock @JungleLoveMama

Categories Turkey

Number Of Ingredients 18

Ingredients

1 - refrigerated pie crust
3-4 slice(s) white or whole grain bread, chopped in 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup(s) onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup(s) celery stalks, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon(s) rosemary, dried
1/2 teaspoon(s) sage, dried
1/2 teaspoon(s) thyme, dried
1/3 cup(s) chicken stock
4 tablespoon(s) butter, melted
1 1/2 cup(s) turkey, cooked
3/4 cup(s) mushrooms, chopped
1/2 cup(s) carrots, chopped
2 cup(s) gravy, leftover
1/4 cup(s) cranberries, fresh
1/3 cup(s) dates, chopped
1/2 teaspoon(s) parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup(s) sherry, cooking
1/3 cup(s) cranberry sauce

Steps:

follow pie crust instruction for oven temp and place crust on cookie sheet. spray with oil (optional), fork holes on bottom and sides. Then lightly brown pie crust in oven. should be about 15 - 2 minutes. You want to brown it to keep it from getting soggy.
Stuffing: saute onions and celery (saving about 1/2 for the turkey layer) on low-medium heat using only 3 of the 4 table spoons of the butter stirring frequently till onions are soft. Add the chicken stock. add spices to the onion and celery and mix thoroughly. turn off heat and toss in the chopped bread and gently and thoroughly blend. And put into a bowl so you can reuse the pan for the next step.
Turkey layer: saute the mushrooms in the butter for a couple minutes on low-medium heat, then add the carrots, onions and celery, sauteing until cooked, about 3 more minutes. Add your left over turkey. Add about 4 TBSN of water and braise. {You can add some cooking sherry instead of water if you have it.} add about 1/3 cup gravy and stir and lightly thicken. then add the cold turkey, break apart with your hands and blend all ingredients. Add sherry/chick stock/water to make sure things do not get dried up, but make sure it is not soupy or this will cause the pie crust to get soggy.
spread the cranberry sauce on the bottom of the pie crust before adding the rest of the layers.
Pour the turkey mixture into the pie crust and spead evenly. Then spoon on the stuffing, covering the turkey layer completely. Lastly sprinkle the cranberries and chopped dates.
bake covered with tin foil in a pre-heated 350 degree oven, on the middle rack, for 30 minutes. take the foil off during the last 10 minutes.
Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes at least. Top with a small amount of fresh parsley for color.
Serve with cranberry-roasted sweet potatoes or mashed potatoes and of course lots of gravy.