Savory Turkey, Mushroom and Spinach Loaded Sweet Potatoes
Roasted sweet potatoes loaded with lean ground turkey, deeply browned cremini mushrooms and wilted spinach, finished with soy sauce and lemon.
Course Main Course
Keyword savory turkey, mushroom and spinach loaded sweet potatoes
Prep Time 15 minutesminutes
Cook Time 55 minutesminutes
Total Time 1 hourhour10 minutesminutes
Servings 4loaded potatoes
Ingredients
For the Sweet Potatoes
4mediumsweet potatoesabout 8 to 10 ounces each
1tablespoonolive oil
½teaspoonkosher salt
For the Turkey, Mushroom and Spinach Filling
10ouncescremini mushroomssliced ¼ inch thick
1tablespoonolive oil
1mediumyellow oniondiced
3clovesgarlicminced
1poundground turkey93% lean
1teaspoonground cumin
1teaspoonsmoked paprika
½teaspoondried oregano
½teaspoondried thyme
1teaspoonkosher saltadded at the end
½teaspoonblack pepper
5ouncesfresh spinach
1tablespoonsoy sauce
1tablespoonlemon juicefresh
Instructions
Roast the Sweet Potatoes
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Scrub and dry the sweet potatoes and prick each one four or five times with a fork.
Rub with the olive oil and kosher salt and set them directly on the oven rack with a sheet pan on the shelf below.
Roast 45 to 55 minutes, until a skewer slides into the center with no resistance. Do not microwave them, roasting gives drier, sweeter flesh.
Brown the Mushrooms and Turkey
Put the sliced cremini in a 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat with NO oil. They will squeak, then release their water and sit in a shallow pool for 4 to 5 minutes.
Once the water has boiled off and the mushrooms sizzle, add the olive oil and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, stirring rarely, until the edges are deeply brown.
Add the onion and cook 4 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano and thyme for 30 seconds, then scrape everything to the outer edge of the pan.
Add the ground turkey to the cleared center, press it flat and leave it undisturbed for 4 minutes. Break it into chunks, stir through the mushrooms and cook 4 minutes more until no pink remains.
Season with the salt and pepper only now, at the end. Salting early draws water out of the meat and poaches it.
Spinach, Season and Fill
Add the spinach in two handfuls, letting the first wilt before adding the second, about 2 minutes total.
Push everything to one side, tilt the pan, and let the green liquid that collects bubble away for 1 to 2 minutes, or spoon it off.
Off the heat, stir in the soy sauce and lemon juice. Taste and adjust, the filling should be slightly more assertive than seems right.
Split each roasted potato lengthwise without cutting through, open it like a book, fluff the flesh with a fork, and divide the filling among the four.
Notes
Dry pan mushrooms: No oil until the released water has boiled off. Oil first makes them soak it up and steam instead of browning.
Salt the turkey late: Early salt pulls moisture out and stops the browning before it starts.
Get the spinach water out: Tilt the pan and boil off the green liquid or the filling runs off the potato.
Roast, do not microwave: 425 degrees F concentrates the flesh. Microwaved potatoes hold steam and seep under the filling.