Two Pan Turkey and Cornbread Dressing With Brussels Sprouts, Squash and Sweet Potatoes
1 (4- to 6-pound) bone-in, skin-on
turkey breast, thawed
4 to 6 leaves fresh sage 2 sprigs thyme, divided use 6 tablespoons butter, softened,
divided use
Salt and ground black pepper 1 onion, halved
1 sprig rosemary
1 ½ pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked with a fork
1 to 2 ribs celery, minced 1 pound cornbread, crumbled ½ tube buttery crackers such as
Ritz
2 slices white bread, torn into
very small pieces
2 to 3 cups chicken stock 1 (5-ounce) can evaporated milk 2 eggs, beaten
12 ounces to 1 pound Brussels
sprouts, trimmed and halved 1 or 2 delicata or acorn squash, cut into 1-inch rings, seeds removed
Olive oil
¾ cup pecan halves
½ cup mini marshmallows,
optional
Position oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Have ready 2 half-sheet pans with 1-inch rims or two shallow roasting pans. If desired, line pans with parchment paper or aluminum foil and coat foil with butter or oil.
Remove giblet pack inside
turkey cavity. Using kitchen shears remove the backbone and ribs from the turkey breast (can be used to make gravy, if desired, recipe follows, or stock). Using your fingers, gently loosen the skin. Place turkey on one of the sheet pans; set aside.
Finely chop the sage leaves. Strip leaves from one of the thyme sprigs.
In a small bowl, combine 4 tablespoons of the butter, the thyme leaves and half of the chopped sage. Season with salt and pepper. Rub 3 tablespoons of the butter mixture under the turkey skin. Rub the remaining tablespoon over the skin. Season with salt and pepper.
Cut one half of the onion into wedges. Place onion wedges along with the remaining thyme sprig and the rosemary under the turkey breast.
Place the sweet potatoes on the other end of the sheet pan.
Roast turkey and sweet potatoes for 30 to 45 minutes. (Total roasting time should be about 15 minutes per pound of turkey, so a 4-pound breast will roast in about 1 hour; a 6-pound breast will take 1 ½ hours.)
Meanwhile, mince the remaining onion half. Saute onion, celery and remaining sage in 2 tablespoons of the remaining butter until softened.
In a large bowl, combine the crumbled cornbread, crackers, white bread, sauteed vegetables, 2 cups of the chicken stock, the evaporated milk and eggs and mix well. Mixture should be very moist, almost soupy. If necessary add the remaining cup of chicken stock.
On a separate half-sheet pan, arrange Brussels sprouts and squash in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
After the turkey has roasted for 30 to 45 minutes, spoon the dressing around it on the sheet pan. Return pan, along with the pan of vegetables to the oven and continue roasting until breast reaches an internal temperature reaches 165 degrees and the vegetables are golden brown and tender. During the last 5 minutes or so, scatter the pecans over the squash and sprouts and split the sweet potatoes and top with marshmallows.
Turkey should rest for 15 minute before carving.
Makes about 4 to 6 servings.
The drawback of the sheet pan turkey dinner starring a small turkey breast is you don’t have all those luscious pan drippings for making gravy. To compensate, we sauteed the trimmed back and rib bones in a mixture of butter and vegetable oil to create some.