Turkey Noodle Stew with Sweet Potato Dumplings

This was a delicious, homemade, and "loosey-goosey" recipe. I'll give you the ingreidents, but the measurements do NOT need to be exact. Also, the pictures aren't AWESOME just because it was hard to photograph, but this meal was PERFECT for a cold day. It was filling, it was hearty, it was TASTY.

It was supposed to be a "leftover thanksgiving ingredients" dish, but you don't have to have leftovers to make it (we sure didn't! We being... me and my mom! We made this together while the guys were at a football game)  Also- you could substitute ANY of the veggies you see, any of the seasonings... but I must say, were I to make this again, I wouldn't change A THING! Except, maybe I would half it! It could have served 8-10 people!

Now, this ingredient list looks long, but you'll have a lot of it on hand, so please dont' write this off yet! (Thanks!)

Ingredients for Soup:

1-2 pounds of turkey breast

1 onion

1 bag of sliced carrots, or 1 bag of carrots, sliced!

Celery (probably about 1 cup sliced)

1 can of peas, or frozen peas

1 T EVOO

About 4-6 oz eggless noodles (we used whole wheat eggless noodles)

fresh or dried thyme

fresh or dried rosemary

Salt and pepper

1 quart + 1/2 can of chicken broth

Ingredients for Dumplings:

2 small-medium sweet potatoes

1.25 cups flour

2 t baking powder

Salt and pepper

1.5 cups buttermilk

Directions:

Note: This is some-what time consuming, but here's how we did it.

1. Place turkey breasts in a shallow baking dish filled with about 1/2 inch of water. Season with a couple sprigs of rosemary and thyme, as well as salt and pepper. We liberally seasoned the turkey with the herbs because they will eventually get thrown in the big pot. Cook turkey until done, about an hour. (Internal temp should be 165)

2. Cube and steam sweet potatoes. If your steamer stacks, steam carrots as well. Obviously you could boil both if you prefer to do that.

3. Cook eggless noodles according to package. Once they are finished, DO NOT STRAIN. Set aside, and let them absorb all liquid in the pot.

3. Once turkey is done, allow it to cool. Then, in a dutch oven, over medium heat (or large soup pot), add Olive Oil. Saute onions until soft. Add carrots and peas.

4. Meanwhile, mash up sweet potatoes, add the flour, the baking powder, buttermilk, salt and pepper. Whip until they are one consistency. Set aside

5. Shred turkey once it has finished baking.

6. Add all broth to the pot of veggies. Add in turkey along with the juice leftover from baking it in the oven. If using fresh herbs, pull off some rosemary leaves and toss into the pot. Add noodles.

7. Simmer about 20 minutes, covered, and bump oven up to 400 degrees.

8. In heaping tablespoons, scoop up sweet potato mixture and drop into stew. (Its okay if they touch each other!)

9. Place in oven, covered, and cook 30 more minutes.

You won't believe the delight you will find in this stew. It is savory and delicious. I cannot say enough good things about it. Its like chicken and dumplings taken to an ENTIRE new level!

ENJOY! And if you have questions, e-mail me! I know I was vague about a lot of the directions, but we really were just throwing things together and making it up as we went!

I tried to get a good photo with the dumplings in it, but, its nothing to write home about:

That big lump is a dumpling and they are AMAZING. You'll want to search the pot for another once you taste it!