Purica s Mlincima
Roast turkey served with mlinci, thin baked flatbread sheets softened and tossed in the roasting juices. A Zagreb and Zagorje holiday classic.
- prep
- 30 min
- cook
- 2 h 30 min
- total
- 3 h
- serves
- 8
- level
- medium
Purica s mlincima is the centerpiece of a Croatian holiday table: roast turkey carved over mlinci, thin baked flatbread sheets that get soaked just long enough to soften, then tossed straight in the turkey's own pan juices.
The mlinci are the real point of the dish. Everything about the roast exists partly to produce good drippings for them to soak up.
Part of our 20 best Croatian recipes list.
method
Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F). Rub the turkey all over with olive oil, crushed garlic, salt and pepper.
Place the onion and carrot in the roasting pan, set the turkey on top, and pour in the wine.
Roast, basting occasionally with the pan juices, for about 2.5 hours, until the internal temperature reaches 74°C (165°F) in the thickest part of the thigh.
Rest the turkey for 20 minutes, loosely covered, before carving.
While the turkey rests, break the mlinci sheets into pieces and soak briefly in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes, then drain well.
Toss the drained mlinci with the hot pan juices, strained of excess fat if needed, and the butter, until well coated and softened.
Carve the turkey and serve with the mlinci alongside.
chef's tips
- Mlinci are baked flatbread sheets sold dried, similar to large, thin crackers. Soak them briefly rather than boiling them long, or they turn to mush.
- The pan juices are the whole point of mlinci. Make sure to deglaze the roasting pan properly and use every bit of that liquid.
- This is the classic Zagreb and Zagorje Christmas and Sunday dish, and duck or goose get the same treatment in some households.
- If mlinci are not available outside Croatia, torn lasagna sheets, briefly boiled, make a workable stand-in for the texture, though not the flavor.