Recipe Background
This Black Friday Ring captures Thanksgiving flavors with ease and creativity.
The year was 2008, and my friend Kate had finally convinced her skeptical parents to let her host Thanksgiving for the first time. It was a risky move, and she knew she needed to ace it. After the big turkey feast was devoured and the family vote was in her favor, we found ourselves facing a perilously full fridge but a craving for something inventive. That’s when Kate came up with the 'Black Friday Ring'—a play on our holiday leftovers, inspired by her love of crescent rolls. I was the designated turkey cutter, carefully slicing it into neat half-inch pieces, while Kate chopped spinach with swift precision.
We debated over cheeses for a while, but Swiss ultimately won—its nutty flavor perfectly balanced by the bold cranberry sauce. It was a revelation how easily the tartness of cranberry complemented the robust turkey and cheese, each encased in a warm crescent dough hug. The trick, as learned from that day, was ensuring the dough enveloped each pocket perfectly, so none of the filling escaped while baking, creating an irresistible mosaic of scents.
Each year since then, as the frenzy of Black Friday winds down, I pull out this recipe to serve friends who wander over, delighted by both flavor and simplicity. Tip? After baking, let it rest those essential five to ten minutes to ensure clean slices without a spill. That pairing of nostalgia and creativity never fails to impress.
Ingredients
- 2 cups turkey breast boneless and skinless, cooked and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 cups spinach leaves chopped and lightly packed
- 7 ounces Swiss cheese cut into 1/2-inch-wide slices
- 1/2 cup canned whole-berry cranberry sauce plus more, to taste, for serving
- 2 (8-ounce 8 count) cans refrigerated crescent rolls
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- In a medium bowl, add the turkey, the spinach, the cheese, and 1/2 cup of the cranberry sauce.
- Unroll both cans of the crescent dough and separate each into 4 rectangles (keeping 2 perforated triangles attached to create a rectangle) for a total of 8 rectangles.
- On an ungreased large baking sheet, arrange the dough rectangles into a ring so that the short sides form a 5-inch-wide circle in the center. It is okay for the dough to overlap.
- Spoon the turkey filling on the half of each the dough rectangles closest to the center of the ring.
- Bring each of the dough rectangles over the filling and tuck them under the bottom layer of the dough to secure them. Repeat around the ring until the entire filling is enclosed. It is okay for some of the filling to show.
- Gently separate the dough perforations on top of the ring until the filling peeks through.
- Bake the ring until the crescent dough is golden-brown and thoroughly baked, about 20-25 minutes.
- Let the ring cool, about 5-10 minutes.
- Slice the ring and serve with the extra cranberry sauce.
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