Wild turkey is very lean, so it’s a challenge to keep the meat moist. The mushrooms, cooked in butter, and the pastry shell help keep the turkey breast from drying out. A little bacon doesn’t hurt, either. Fancy mushrooms and shallots aren’t necessary to make a flavorful duxelles (pronounced: “duke-sell”) for this wellington. Button mushrooms and onion still cook up with tons of flavor.
Wild Turkey Wellington
16 ounces (1 pound) mushrooms
½ a medium onion
1 TBS butter
1 tsp ground sage
salt and pepper to taste
1 wild turkey breast
8 slices bacon
1 sheet puff pastry (still cold from fridge)
1 egg
water
coarse salt
Wash and slice the mushrooms. Dice the onion. Either run a knife through the mixture to get it into small pieces, or run it in a food processor until paste-like with some larger pieces.
Melt the butter in a skillet. Add the mushroom and onion mixture, the thyme and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mixture is dry and has darkened in color (about 30 minutes).
Lay out the slices of bacon, overlapping them slightly to form a sheet. Trim the turkey breast of any silverskin, tendon or yellow fat and roll to make it a loaf-like shape. Lay the turkey on one side of the the bacon sheet and roll it to wrap it in bacon. Cook the roll in a pan, turning frequently, until the bacon is mostly cooked and most of the fat rendered. The turkey should still be undercooked. Let it cool so it won’t melt the pastry later.
Unfold the sheet of puff pastry and roll it to make it slightly larger and thinner. Spread half of the mushroom and onion paste on the puff pastry. Place the bacon and turkey roll in the center and spread the rest of the mushroom and onion paste on top. Make an egg wash by beating the egg with a splash of water. Brush egg wash around the edges of the puff pastry before folding. Fold up the puff pastry around the meat and vegetable mixture, using additional egg wash as glue when necessary. Turn over and place on a pan that has been greased or coated in foil and then greased. Brush with egg wash, sprinkle with coarse salt and use a small sharp knife to cut vents in the top.
Bake at 350 degrees until the turkey is cooked through and the pastry brown. A thermometer inserted in the center of the turkey can help track the doneness of the meat.