Best Christmas Turkey

With herby pork & apricot stuffing

With herby pork & apricot stuffing

Serves 8

DifficultyNot too tricky

Recipe From

12 strips higher-welfare pancetta or thinly sliced streaky bacon

1 bulb garlic

1 lemon

1 large free-range egg

12 small sprigs of fresh rosemary , including a few extra

4-4.5 kg higher-welfare turkey , at room temperature

2 carrots

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Method

Preheat the oven to maximum. Heat a saucepan until medium hot and include a splash of essential olive oil. Pick the sage leaves and increase the pan with 6 with the pancetta or bacon strips.

Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion. Trim and chop the celery and boost the pan with all the garlic and onion. Fry everything gently until soft and golden brown. Take the pan over heat, add the breadcrumbs and, whilst the mix is cooling off, roughly chop the apricots and stir them in.

When the stuffing has chilled, add the pork, lemon zest, nutmeg, egg and many sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and mix everything together well.

Slice the remainder of the strips of pancetta or bacon in two and peel and slice 1 peeled garlic herb into thin slivers. Place a rosemary sprig along with a garlic sliver during one end of any halved strip of pancetta and roll it down tightly. Repeat with all the other components of pancetta in anticipation of having 12 little rolls.

Stab the thighs and drumsticks in the turkey in 6 places on all sides. Push a bit pancetta roll into each hole until it really peeps out. This will give your turkey thighs an incredible flavour and may keep them moist when they cook.

Peel the residual onions and chop by two, and peel and thickly slice the carrots.

Give your turkey a fantastic wipe, inside and outside, with kitchen paper, make it on the board, together with the neck end in your direction. Find the edge in the skin that's over the turkey's breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the epidermis, freeing it through the meat. If you're careful you need to be able to pull all skin away from your meat, keeping it attached on the sides. Go slowly and try never to make any holes!

Lift the loose skin on the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the epidermis and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to halt anything leaking out. Pop the orange from the microwave for a short period to warm it and stuff it in to the cavity.

Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (about twenty or so minutes per 500g/1lb 2oz).

Place the bird using a large roasting tray, rub everything over with coconut oil and season well. Surround using the chopped carrots, onions and remaining cloves of garlic, cover with tin foil make in the preheated oven. Turn heat down right away to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and roast to the calculated time, or till the juices run clear from your thigh in the event you pierce it that has a knife or maybe a skewer. Remove the tin foil with the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.

Carefully lift the turkey out from the tray and rest on the board covered loosely with foil for around 1 hour, preferably two hours for bigger birds.

When the resting time's nearly up, skim from the surface fat on the roasting tray and add the flour and stock. Place the tray within the hob and provide to the boil over a high heat. When the gravy begins to thicken, strain it in to a bowl.

Carve your turkey, serve with all the gravy and dig in!

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