Christmas Turkey Roast
Roast turkey with sage and onion stuffing, pigs in blankets, and the trimmings
- Prep 45 min
- Cook 200 min
- Total 245 min
- Feeds 8
- Main Course
Ingredients
4 kg Turkey
A whole turkey
150 g Butter
1 Lemon
4 Onion
2 cloves of Garlic
4 sprigs Thyme
Fresh thyme sprigs
1 bunch Sage
A bunch of fresh sage
18 rashers Streaky bacon
Rashers, for the breast and the pigs in blankets
12 Short Cumberland sausages
Short pork sausages in the Cumberland style
300 g Pork sausagemeat
Plain pork sausagemeat
280 g Breadcrumbs
Fresh white breadcrumbs
1 Egg
1600 g Potatoes
Floury potatoes
4 tbsp Goose fat
Or vegetable oil, for the roast potatoes
600 g Brussels sprouts
Trimmed
500 g Carrots
Peeled
400 g Parsnips
Peeled
2 tbsp Flour
600 ml Chicken stock
Or turkey stock
200 g Cranberries
Fresh or frozen
50 g Sugar
1 Orange
400 ml Milk
4 Cloves
Whole cloves
2 Bay leaves
Dried or fresh
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black pepper
Freshly ground black pepper
Steps
Heat the oven
Heat the oven to 190°C
Make the stuffing
Fry 2 of the onions in 40 g of the butter until soft. Mix them with 200 g of the breadcrumbs, the sausagemeat, chopped sage, the egg, and some salt and pepper. Leave it to cool
Prepare the turkey
Loosen the skin over the breast and spread 50 g of butter underneath with the garlic and a little thyme. Season the cavity and put in the lemon and 1 onion. Pack the stuffing into the neck end, not the cavity. Lay 6 bacon rashers over the breast and tie the legs
Roast the turkey
Roast at 190°C for about 40 minutes per kilogram. A 4 kg bird takes about 2 hours 40 minutes. Baste now and then. The thickest part of the thigh should reach 75°C
160 min
Rest
Move the turkey to a board, cover it, and rest it for 30 minutes. Keep the tin for the gravy
30 min
Roast potatoes
Peel the potatoes, cut them into chunks, and parboil for 8 minutes. Drain and shake them rough. Heat the goose fat in a tin until it is very hot, add the potatoes, and roast for about 50 minutes, turning once, until crisp. Start them when the turkey has about an hour left
50 min
Pigs in blankets
Wrap each short Cumberland sausage in a rasher of bacon, seam side down. Roast for 30 to 35 minutes until the bacon is crisp and the sausages are cooked through
30 min
Vegetables
Boil the sprouts until just tender, then toss them with a knob of butter. Parboil the carrots and parsnips, then roast them in a little of the turkey fat for the last 30 minutes
Cranberry sauce
Simmer the cranberries with the sugar and the juice of the orange until they burst and thicken, about 10 minutes
10 min
Bread sauce
Stud the last onion with the cloves. Simmer it in the milk with the bay leaves for 15 minutes, then remove the onion and bay. Stir in the remaining breadcrumbs and a knob of butter, and season with salt and pepper
15 min
Gravy
Pour most of the fat out of the turkey tin, leaving the juices. Stir in the flour, then the stock. Scrape up the browned bits and simmer until it thickens. Season
Carve and serve
Carve the turkey and serve it with the stuffing, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets, vegetables, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, and gravy
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