Similar to a Greek lamb recipe, this slow cooked turkey becomes tender and flavorful in the oven before it is served with a spiced yogurt sauce.
By John Bek
Warm up the kitchen by slow-cooking some turkey on a cold day.
What I’ve done is along the lines of a Greek kleftiko – just with turkey rather than lamb. There are a few steps to the method, but really, most of the work is done in the oven.
PrintSlow Cooked Turkey Shanks with Yogurt Sauce
- Yield: 2-4 servings 1x
Description
Similar to a Greek lamb recipe, this slow cooked turkey becomes tender and flavorful in the oven before it is served with a spiced yogurt sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
Turkey
- 2 onions, peeled & thickly sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, cut in half
- 50 g (1.7 ounces) speck, cut into 4 mm (0.5 cm) slices
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- Salt & black pepper
- 2 turkey shanks, combined weight approx 1 kg (about 2 pounds)
- 1 tbsp dried red chili
- 50 ml (1.7 fluid ounces) white wine
- 50 ml (1.7 fluid ounces) verjuice
- 300 g (10.5 ounces) kipfler potatoes, quartered lengthways
- 60 g (2 ounces) green olives (about 16)
- 1 lemon, thickly sliced
- Fresh parsley & more lemon, to garnish
Yogurt Sauce
- 1 tsp coriander seeds
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp parsley or mint, roughly chopped
- 150 ml (5 fluid ounces) natural yoghurt
Instructions
Turkey
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.
- Tear off two sheets of foil big enough to loosely wrap each turkey shank entirely. Line each sheet of foil with baking paper. Place the onions, garlic and speck in the centre of both pieces of baking paper.
- Combine the olive oil, oregano and yoghurt and mix well. Rub this all over each turkey shank and then lay each shank on top of the pile of onion and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper, scatter over the dried chili then pour over the combined wine and verjuice. Wrap each turkey shank into a parcel, sealing well and making sure there is still space between the turkey and the wrapping. There needs to be a pocket of air around the turkey so it cooks properly.
- Place on a tray in the oven and cook for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours remove the parcels from the oven, carefully open without tearing and remove each shank. Lay the potatoes and lemon over the cooked onion mixture, scatter with olives and gently mix to coat in the juices. Place each shank back on top of the vegetables, reseal and cook for a further 1½-2 hours, or until meat is very tender.
- During cooking, make the yoghurt sauce.
- To serve, unwrap each parcel of turkey, garnish with parsley, lemon wedges and yoghurt sauce.
Yogurt Sauce
- Toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a dry pan over medium heat. then crush well using a mortar and pestle.
- Combine the spices with the remaining sauce ingredients, season to taste and set aside in the fridge until ready to serve with the lamb.
- Category: Main
- Cuisine: Greek Style
