Having recently survived some dental surgery, I needed to find something soft to eat. Something that - while filling and nourishing - would not require a lot of chewing! For the past few days I have been living on soups and yogurt and high protein shakes, but I really wanted a big, thick, juicy steak. Unfortunately, steak is momentarily out of the question, so this is the best I could come up with (and it is really rather good)!

Step 1: INGREDIENTS (6 Servings):

1 lb Purdue Harvestland lean ground turkey with Rosemary Extract
2 TBS EVOO (not shown)
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar (6 oz) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 can (10.25 oz) Campbells Golden Mushroom Soup (do not add water)
1 cup sour cream
4 TBS whole milk
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 cup Belgioioso Sharp Provolone Cheese, shredded
8 ounces dry egg noodles (about 3 cups dry; will make about 6 cups cooked)
1 TBS chopped fresh Basil leaves

Step 2: PREPARATION:

Heat water to rolling boil and cook Pasta according to package directions. While water is heating and pasta is cooking (will take about 7 minutes after water comes to a boil):
Smash, peel, & mince garlic; set aside.
Dice a medium sized onion & set aside (I pictured a red onion, but I discovered that I had a peeled white onion in the fridge).
Measure out the dry mustard and ground nutmeg and set aside.
Shred 1 cup of cheese and set aside (will be used to top the casserole before it is baked).
Chop 1 TBS of Basil leaves and set aside; (will be used to top plate when served).

Step 3: INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a 2-1/2 to 3 quart baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Spray a heavy non-stick pan or cast iron skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.
When pan is hot, add turkey; break it up with wooden spoons or a potato masher; add diced onion and minced garlic and *cook, stirring, until turkey is no longer pink (about 4 or 5 minutes).
Next, add the soup, mushrooms, sour cream, milk, mustard, and nutmeg. Reduce heat to simmer; mix thoroughly and simmer for about 5 minutes while stirring occasionally.
Taste, add S&P as needed (no salt was needed, but I did add some ground black pepper).

*NOTE: They ground turkey was very lean and it almost immediately absorbed the cooking spray that I had sprayed over the cast iron skillet that I was using, so I added 2 TBS of EVOO - then proceeded to add the onion and garlic and the rest of the ingredients.

(It was my intention to add the drained and cooked egg noodles to the pan with the meat mixture, but the pan was not big enough (a lesson learned; I should probably have used my dutch oven to cook the turkey and related ingredients), so I had to dump the pasta into the pre-sprayed baking dish; then add the meat mixture and blend the two together in the casserole dish (see next step).

Step 4: BAKE THE CASSEROLE:

Add the noodles to the pre-sprayed baking dish.

Pour the ground turkey mixture over the noodles and thoroughly mix everything together. Mix until the noodles and meat mixture appear to be completely blended and coated.

Top the casserole with the shredded cheese and bake in the oven at 350 F until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown (20 to 30 minutes (mine took exactly 25 minutes).

Step 5: TIME TO EAT . . .

This turned out to be a rather delicious version of Stroganoff. The addition of sharp provolone cheese certainly enhanced the flavor of the sauce, and that pretty Blue Margarita helped me to overcome the discomforts of my recent dental surgery! At some date in the future I plan to make this dish again, replacing the ground turkey with turkey meat balls.

Bon appétit

Step 6: NUTRITION:

I have estimated the nutritional values of the recipe to the best of my ability using the MyFitnessPal Recipe Analyzer. Just click on the image to enlarge it.