Turkey Mole Verde
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1cup pumpkin seeds
- ½cup sesame seeds
- 1teaspoon ground cumin
- 2cups turkey or chicken stock, preferably homemade
- ¼cup neutral-tasting oil (such as canola or grapeseed)
- ½medium yellow onion, peeled and cut into large pieces (about 1 cup)
- 2garlic cloves, peeled
- 1pound tomatillos, husks removed and halved
- 4green chard leaves, stems removed, roughly chopped
- 5romaine leaves, roughly chopped
- 3 to 4jalapeños, stemmed and cut into large pieces, to taste
- 1½cups coarsely chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems (about 1 large bunch)
- 2teaspoons dried oregano
- 4cups shredded cooked turkey (about 1 pound), light and dark meat separated
- 1tablespoon kosher salt
- Steamed white rice, for serving
- Corn tortillas, for serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
503 calories; 32 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 15 grams monounsaturated fat; 11 grams polyunsaturated fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 33 grams protein; 895 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add pumpkin seeds and toast, stirring constantly, until they swell, pop and turn a deep golden color, 3 to 4 minutes. Spread seeds out onto a baking sheet in a single layer to cool.
- Step 2
Place sesame seeds in heated pan, and return pan to medium heat. Toast, stirring constantly, until they turn a deep golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Spread them out alongside pumpkin seeds to cool.
- Step 3
When cool, place pumpkin and sesame seeds in the work bowl of a large blender (or food processor) and grind them into a fine powder. Transfer ground seeds to a medium bowl, add cumin and 1 cup turkey or chicken stock. Stir mixture to make a thick paste.
- Step 4
Heat a large Dutch oven or similar pot over medium heat, and add neutral oil. When oil shimmers, add seed paste and fry, stirring and scraping constantly, until paste is dry and deep golden in color, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Step 5
In the blender or food processor, purée onion, garlic, tomatillos and ½ cup chicken stock until smooth. Add chard, romaine leaves, jalapeños, cilantro and oregano and purée again.
- Step 6
Return Dutch oven to medium heat, and transfer purée to the Dutch oven. Add in remaining ½ cup stock, shredded dark-meat turkey and salt and bring to a simmer, stirring from time to time. Simmer for 15 minutes, then add light-meat turkey and simmer 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
- Step 7
Serve with steamed white rice and corn tortillas. Cover and refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
Private Notes
Comments
Very good! There's a bit of work involved -- but the results are really impressive! I served it over small roasted pumpkin quarters, along with some sauteed brussels sprouts.
The paste was initially too soupy. Next time, I will start the paste with just half a cup of broth, then add to consistency.
I had to sub kale for the other greens, and sub dried ancho and chipotle for fresh peppers. I doubled garlic, cumin; added bit of powered cardomom, alspice and coriander. Really good!
Hulled! You can hull the seeds from a fresh pumpkin but it's far easier to simply buy the seeds, often called pepitas. You may even find pre-roasted pepitas but beware that these are usually salted. Fresh pepitas will be green while roasted ones will be golden brown.
So I ultimately enjoyed this however I have a few gripes: I doubled the recipe, used 3lbs of turkey and it was still VERY runny and that's with about 50% of the stock used. More cumin. This needs to simmer for way more than 20 minutes. The flavor of the greens is absolutely overwhelming. After about two hours of simmering on the stove the nutty flavor of the seeds really comes out to play. I served this up as tacos with a salsa verde, crema and cotija and they were a hit.
Great, flexible clean-out-the-refrigerator recipe that children love! Also great for potlucks and other large gatherings. Substitute freshly cooked or leftover pork or chicken for turkey, substitute kale for chard or use only romaine that needs to be eaten now. With the base of tomatillos, pepinos, sesame and aromatics, any of these substitutions creates a great meal.
This was, as my husband put it, "meh." Such a shame as I used tomatillos and jalapenos from my summer garden (frozen and preserved), chard and lettuce fresh harvested from my winter garden, and a pasture raised turkey from our fall CSA. We couldn't have used better ingredients, and yet the flavor was unexciting. I expected more from a 5 star NYT recipe.
I used 1/2 of chicken stock and texture was good. I put the tomatillos, peppers and onions under broiler to get a little smoky flavor. I thought it needed more acid at the end, so I squeezed some lime. My family liked it and didn't complain about the chard since it doesn't have the harsh "green" flavor.
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