Ground Turkey and Tomatoes With Macaroni Soup

By Thom7747

1. I have been eating this dish along with macaroni and tomatoes all my life. As I have with my macaroni and tomatoes’ recipe; I have changed the recipe many time. Both the cooking method and the ingredients.

2. It seems like such a simple thing to prepare, but to get it right, there are a few key ingredients. The key is the bacon drippings and the sugar.

Ingredients

• MACARONI AND TOMATOES:
• 3 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
• 6 cups water
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 (28 oz.) can whole tomatoes, undrained (I like Italian tomatoes)
• 3 cups tomato juice (I like Kroger Tomato Juice)
• 2 tsp. bacon drippings
• 2 Tbs. butter
• 2 tsp. sugar
• black pepper to taste (I like black pepper, I add 1 tsp.)
• TURKEY, ONION & GARLIC:
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 tsp Worcestershire
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/4 cups chopped yellow onion (1 small)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• SPICES:
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh marjoram (or 1 tsp dried)
• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme (or 3/4 tsp dried)
• Fresh chopped parsley and finely grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Details

Servings 5
Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 50mins
Adapted from thomcooks.com

Preparation

Step 1

Place the macaroni in 6 cups salted (1 tablespoon salt) boiling water and cook until the pasta is just starting to soften.

While the macaroni is cooking, I cut the tomatoes in smaller pieces.

Add the tomatoes, juice, bacon drippings, butter, sugar and black pepper to taste.

While the macaroni and tomatoes cook; Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté 3 minutes then add garlic and sauté 1 minute longer. Pour the mixture into a small bowl.

Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in pot over medium-high heat, add turkey, Worcestershire, season with salt and pepper and cook until the turkey is browned. Drain the fat from the turkey.

Return sautéed onions and garlic to the pot along with the macaroni and tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, chopped fresh marjoram (or 1 tsp dried) and the chopped fresh thyme.

Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

You can garnish with fresh parsley and Parmesan cheese if desired.