October has always been one of our favourite months. The weather is cool enough to do some baking just in time for Thanksgiving, the leaves have started to fall, Halloween is just around the corner, and we have a few family birthdays to celebrate as well. When I was younger, I appreciated Thanksgiving because it was the first break from school and usually meant the first roast of the season. Although I may not be in school any longer, I appreciate the break from work and the excuse to spend time with my family eating good food, Mom agrees.
Every year when Thanksgiving rolls around we all experience the time-honoured conundrum of what to do with all that leftover turkey. You can always have a second meal, which we often do but it does require a lot of reheating and you only want to have it maybe twice. Often there is a little of this or that leftover so perhaps you can heat it up for lunch or make a turkey soup. Many years ago mom looked in the fridge and decided to throw the leftover veggies and turkeys into some gravy, pop it into some tarts and bake it. It was such a hit that after every poultry roast, if there’s enough of everything left she makes them.
Over the years they evolved, sometimes she would even add the leftover mashed potatoes but her most popular idea to date was to top the tarts with leftover stuffing. A turkey meal in a buttery tart, how can you possibly go wrong? You can’t! The wonderful thing about these tarts is that there is so many ways of making them! You can throw in whatever vegetables you have or want. Not enough leftover gravy? Use a packet. In our household the homemade stuffing almost always get’s eaten, especially when I am around because it’s my favorite part the meal. So whip out some store-bought stuffing and you are good to go.
When we realized how versatile the idea was, we knew it was perfect to share on our blog. Unsure what to name it while working on this post Mom jokingly said how about “Tasty Turkey Tarts”, we giggled and thought why not? Nothing wrong with a little alliteration, right? So here is our recipe for Tasty Turkey Tarts. We would love to hear what you put in your tarts. Don’t be afraid to switch it up but you might want to stick to the ratios we have come up with below. We hope that you enjoyed time spent with friend and family this weekend and that you have enough leftovers for these delicious tarts!
2 cups turkey or chicken
⅓ cup chopped onion
⅓ cup chopped celery
⅓ cup shredded carrot
½ cup red bell pepper
1 packet of turkey or chicken gravy or 1 cup homemade gravy
½ tsp onion powder
1 squirt ketchup
1 package of Stove Top Stuffing*
16 tart shells
*Not advertising, it just happens to be what we like to use.
Pull 12-16 tarts out of the freezer for 15 minutes prior to cooking or as per the instructions on the package. We use whatever tarts we can get our hands on as long as they are unsweetened.
Sauté the vegetables in a pan until they soften and caramelize.
We often will use leftover corn or peas from our meal. It often depends on what we have on hand but we always stick to the ratios above.
Prepare your gravy as per the instructions on the packet. We like to add ½ tsp onion powder and 1 squirt ketchup just to punch up the flavour. If you have leftover homemade gravy use about a cup.
Add the chicken and gravy to your sautéed vegetables until heated through and slightly thickened. If you find the gravy is too thick you can add some water or stock to loosen up your mixture.
In the meantime prepare your store bought stuffing.
Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and place tarts on top. We use the foil to help with clean up, just in case the gravy boils out a bit.
Fill your tarts to about the rim of the shell and top with approximately 2 tablespoons of stuffing or until the filling is covered.
Bake in a 350°F oven for 35-40 minutes or until the tart shell looks brown and crispy. Enjoy!
Tasty Turkey Tarts
Ingredients
- 2 cups turkey or chicken
- ⅓ cup chopped onion
- ⅓ cup chopped celery
- ⅓ cup shredded carrot
- ½ cup red bell pepper
- 1 packet turkey or chicken gravy or 1 cup homemade gravy
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 squirt ketchup
- 1 package of Stove Top Stuffing
- 16 tart shells
Instructions
- Pull 12-16 tarts out of the freezer for 15 minutes prior to cooking or as per the instructions on the package. We use whatever tarts we can get our hands on as long as they are unsweetened.
- Sauté the vegetables in a pan until they soften and caramelize. We often will use leftover corn or peas from our meal. It often depends on what we have on hand but we always stick to the ratios above.
- Prepare your gravy as per the instructions on the packet. We like to add ½ tsp onion powder and 1 squirt ketchup just to punch up the flavour. If you have leftover homemade gravy use about a cup.
- Add the chicken and gravy to your sautéed vegetables until heated through and slightly thickened. If you find the gravy is too thick you can add some water or stock to loosen up your mixture.
- In the meantime prepare your store bought stuffing.
- Cover a baking sheet with tin foil and place tarts on top. We use the foil to help with clean up, just in case the gravy boils out a bit.
- Fill your tarts to about the rim of the shell and top with approximately 2 tablespoons of stuffing or until the filling is covered.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 35-40 minutes or until the tart shell looks brown and crispy. Enjoy!
