A healthy, delicate dish with a lot of flavor and texture, served on a small bed of whole grain spaghetti. If you like turkey, this recipe of Turkey Tenderloins with Apricot Pepper Sauce will surely become a dinner favorite.
I think the first time I made this recipe is more than 10 years ago. I found it in Cooking Light Magazine; and it became an instant favorite. I picked up the magazine during a business trip at one of the US airports (I was still living in the Netherlands at that time). I liked it, subscribed and been a fan of Cooking Light ever since.
This recipe is not an exact replica of the original, simply because I couldn’t get all the ingredients, but the essence is pretty much the same. You can prepare these Turkey Tenderloins with Apricot Pepper Sauce while the whole grain spaghetti cooks, so in less than 10 minutes.
Turkey tenderloins are a really nice choice for this recipe; especially when you cook them right; short and on high heat. Turkey tenderloins, also called cutlets, or scaloppine; are the pieces of meat between the turkey breasts. Unlike the turkey breast, the tenderloin does not get as much exercise and thus it is tender meat.
As the carbohydrate source of the meal, I used whole grain spaghetti. It is just a little bit, 1 oz. of dry spaghetti per person; it is the turkey that plays the major part. Delicate meat, in a sweet/savory sauce with crunchy strips of green bell pepper. Try it and you’ll like it.
Turkey Tenderloins with Apricot Pepper Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 ounces whole grain spaghetti
- 8 ounces turkey tenderloin
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 1 small shallot
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons apricot preserve
- 3 dried apricots chopped
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Boil water and salt in a saucepan. Add the spaghetti and cook according to directions.
- In the meantime prepare the turkey tenderloins and the apricot pepper sauce.
- Cut the tenderloins in strips, sprinkle with salt and pepper and dust with all-purpose flour.
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a skillet and add the turkey and cook for 2-3 minutes, until brown. Remove turkey from the skillet and keep warm.
- Clean the bell pepper and cut in strips, mince the shallot and the ginger*.
- Add the remaining oil to the skillet and cook the bell pepper, shallot and ginger for 1-2 minutes. Add the apricot preserve, the chicken stock, the chopped dried apricots, brown sugar and balsamic vinegar.
- Cook over medium heat for a few minutes, until it starts to thicken. Add the turkey and warm up. Add salt and/or pepper if needed.
- Drain the spaghetti. Divide over 2 plates and top spaghetti with turkey and apricot pepper sauce.
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