Pressure Cooker Portuguese Red Pepper Braised Turkey Legs

I was at the supermarket and spotted turkey legs on sale. Well, turkey legs are honestly the best part of the turkey, white poultry meat always tends to be very dry, and turkey is even worse in my opinion. Many times it’s better to just buy the legs than the whole bird. But, well Turkey legs tend to be a somewhat tougher meat, so having them cooked like this is pure bliss and an amazing way to cook perfect, tender, fall-apart turkey legs with loads of flavour.

In this case, to make my life easier and create a pile of creamy, succulent turkey, nothing beats cooking it in the pressure cooker. Of course, if you don’t have one, just follow the same recipe but let it cook for at least 30 more minutes, until the meat starts falling off the bone. This is a great family-style recipe to try at home, it’s easy to make, delicious and almost always provides with plenty of leftovers, that you can use in things like turkey savoury cupcakes ;D so let’s get to the recipe.

Pressure Cooker Portuguese Red Pepper Braised Turkey Legs

Servings: 6
Time: 50mins
Difficulty: Normal
Rating: ★★★★★
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Why did the turkey leg go to therapy? Because it had pressure issues! Hahahah jesus kill me now! ;D

Ingredients

Turkey – 2 Legs (1.4 kg)
Carrot – 1
Onion – 1 Large
Garlic – 5 Cloves
Olive Oil – A Drizzle
Paprika Paste – 1 Tablespoon (Massa de Pimentão)
Smoked Paprika – 1 Teaspoon
Dried Oregano – 1 Teaspoon
Herbes de Provence – 1 Teaspoon
White Wine – 2 Glasses
Chili Flakes – A Pinch
Pepper – A Pinch
Salt – A Pinch

Directions

Simply chop the carrots, onions, and garlic into chunks and place them in the bottom of the pressure cooker.

Add the turkey legs and season everything with a drizzle of olive oil, paprika paste (portuguese massa de pimentão paste), smoked paprika, dried oregano, Provençal herbs, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Mix and cook over high heat.
Fry a little to brown the skin and some of the vegetables, turning them over.
When they are slightly browned, add the white wine and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon.
Close the pressure cooker, if it has a level, set it to maximum pressure (normally the lower settings are for puddings, steamed vegetables and such).
When steam starts to escape, lower the heat to medium/low (there is no need to keep the heat high with the pressure high) and cook for about 45 minutes until the turkey is tender.

After that time, remove the pan from the heat and let the pressure escape slowly, and it’s ready. Bon appétit!

Notes: Depending on the legs, you might need to cook them a little more or less until they’re really tender. If by chance the turkey isn’t tender enough, you can always cook it again for a few more minutes under pressure or simply on the stove until it’s just right, better to undercook and adjust than overcook.

If you don’t have portuguese “massa de pimentão”, red pepper paste, you can substitute with tomato paste mixed with a bit of smoked paprika, it’s not the same, but it’s a good alternative.

The white wine helps deglaze the bottom and adds incredible depth of flavour, so don’t skip it, and don’t use bad wine, you don’t need excellent wine for cooking, but also don’t use bad wine, It’s silly to use something bad if you want to make something good, right!

Save the cooking liquid, it makes for an amazing gravy base.

Turkey legs can vary in size, so adjust cooking time accordingly, larger legs may need an extra 10-15 minutes more.

This recipe for Pressure Cooker Portuguese Red Pepper Braised Turkey Legs was originally created on BakeAfter.com. Esta receita de Pernas de Peru Estufadas com Pimentão foi publicada em português no Iguaria.com.