Convection Oven Cooking Recipe Using Leftover Turkey

Your sister hosted her first Thanksgiving and now it’s your turn to host Christmas. All the delicious home-made side dishes and desserts that accompanied a succulent and evenly browned turkey provided the camaraderie and fellowship of family and friends. Good home-cooking bringing people together. All the food was baked to perfection and placed on the dining room table in a timely manner. You marvel at your sisters cooking prowess. After all, it did take a bit of courage to cook a 9-course Thanksgiving meal for a party of 15 when most of those she was cooking for were professional chefs. And then there was the inescapable amazement of what can be done with leftover turkey. Turkey Lasagna? Who ever heard of such a thing? How does she do it, you inquire? She began to explain…

The cooking recipe you choose for your new Bosch oven is dependent on the meal you are planning to serve. Are you planning to cook a 25-pound turkey or a chocolate soufflé? Convection cooking is ideal for the turkey (or any large roast) but not advised for the soufflé. A fan and an extra heating element distribute heat evenly throughout the oven. Because the fan is causing the air to move in the oven, a soufflé or any other food with rising capabilities would not be such a great idea to cook using the convection mode. There is too much risk that the air flow would cause the rising soufflé to sink. And you sure don’t want that to happen.

Air circulation is the most important feature to bear in mind when using the convection oven mode. With a convection oven, a virtual buffet of food can be cooked at the same time, but be careful not to prohibit air flow by overcrowding. If you have any questions about what to cook or what not to cook using the convection mode, follow the manufacturer guidelines found in your operator’s manual.

Let’s review some roasting techniques before moving on to one of our favorite recipes. Use a roasting pan equipped with a rack to lift the turkey or roast up and out of the pan for ample browning. For smaller roasts think about setting the temperature the same as a conventional oven and reduce cooking time by 20% to 30%. However, for a larger bird, we suggest setting the temperature at the recommended conventional oven setting for the first 15 to 30 minutes and then reduce the heat by 25 degrees. When the temperature is lower, cooking time is longer but the meat will be more succulent. Also, “the fan in a convection oven will wick away inherent moisture in food more rapidly than a conventional oven. This will enable a beef roast or a turkey to sear and brown more evenly.”

Turkey Lasagna

Ingredients

8 ounces lasagna pasta
1 10 ¾ ounce can cream of chicken soup
1 10 ¾ ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
1 cup sliced black olives
¼ cup chopped pimento
½ teaspoon garlic salt
3 cups cooked turkey, cut into matchstick slices
2 cups mild cheddar cheese, grated

Directions

Cook lasagna pasta according to the directions, drain and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, Parmesan cheese, sour cream, onion, olives, pimento, and garlic salt. Stir in the leftover turkey. Pour ¼ of the soup mixture in the bottom of a well-greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. For the first layer, use 1/3 of the pasta and 1/3 of the cheddar cheese. Repeat the process by layering with another ¼ of the soup mixture, 1/3 of the lasagna pasta, and 1/3 of the cheddar cheese. For the final layer, use ¼ of the soup mixture and the final 1/3 of the lasagna pasta. No cheese for this layer! Finally, cover with the remaining ¼ of the soup mixture.

Cover and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and add the remaining 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Continue baking, uncovered for 15 minutes.