Leftover turkey casserole with bacon, onions, mushrooms, mashed sweet potatoes, Gruyere cheese and a buttery cracker topping
You know what happens when a few people cancel at the last minute for Thanksgiving?
Lots of leftovers, that’s what!
This casserole is loaded. You start with bacon and build from there. Onions, mushrooms, mashed sweet potatoes, Gruyere cheese—everything is tossed with the shredded leftover turkey, spread out in a casserole dish, topped with crushed salt and butter, and baked. Yummy!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Casserole with sweet potatoes, mushrooms and leftover turkey
This recipe uses mashed sweet potatoes. You can easily substitute regular mashed potatoes for the sweet potatoes if you like.
ingredients
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1/4 lb bacon, cut into half-inch slices
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1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
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2 cups coarsely chopped leftover (cooked) turkey (white and/or dark meat)
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3 to 4 cups cooked mashed sweet potatoes or pomegranate yams (from about 2 large sweet potatoes)*
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1 pound sliced cremini or button mushrooms
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1/2 teaspoon salt
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1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) grated Gruyere cheese
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20 salt crackers
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4 tablespoons butter, divided, plus more to grease the baking pan
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*To cook the sweet potatoes, peel them, cut into 1-inch-thick slices, toss with a little olive oil, place in a single layer in a foil-covered roasting pan and roast for 20 minutes or so at 200°F fork tender. Or you can pierce the whole, unpeeled sweet potatoes all over with a fork, wrap in foil, and roast at 350F for one hour or until fork is tender. Or you can peel and chop them and cook until tender. Then puree.
method
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Cooking bacon and onions:
Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crisp and most of the fat has drained, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the chopped onion to the pan with the bacon. Continue cooking until onion is golden brown, about 10 minutes. Place the bacon and onions in a bowl, stir in the leftover chopped turkey and set aside.
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Fry mushrooms:
Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan. Heat on high. Add the mushrooms and sauté until lightly browned and beginning to release their moisture, about 5 minutes.
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Mix the mushrooms with the turkey bacon and onion mixture. Mix the mashed cooked sweet potatoes with the mushrooms and turkey:
Stir in 1/4 cup water (or broth if you have some).
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Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an 8×12 baking dish and spread the turkey and sweet potato mixture in an even layer
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make topping:
For the casserole, place the Gruyere cheese, salted crackers and 2 tablespoons butter in a food processor and crumble. (Or you can crumble the saltines with your hands and put everything in a large bowl and mix until crumbly.)
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Spread the topping over the casserole:
and brush with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.
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Bake:
Bake uncovered at 350°F for 45 to 50 minutes until topping is golden brown.
