Christmas Turkey Recipe

How to Cook the Perfect Christmas Turkey

The big day is almost here and for some, that means it’s time to dust off the apron and show off your skills in the kitchen! We’ve put together a recipe to ensure the outcome of all that hard work is a perfect Christmas turkey!

What you’ll need:

• 5 kg turkey, preferably free-range or organic
• Olive oil
• Sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clementine, halved
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 small onions, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped

For the stuffing:

• 200 grams of Irish butter
• 2 small onions, peeled and finely chopped
• sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley, and thyme leaves picked and roughly chopped
• 300 g good quality pork mince
• 1 large handful breadcrumbs

Method

1. Take your turkey out of the fridge about an hour before you are ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting. Give it a good rinse then pat it dry with some kitchen paper, making sure you soak up any water in the cavity. Drizzle the meat with a good lug of olive oil, add a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the bird, making sure you get in to all the nooks and crannies.
2. Preheat your oven to full whack then get started on your stuffing. Melt your butter into a large pan on a medium heat and fry off your chopped onion for about 10 minutes or until softened. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper, then your ground nutmeg and your chopped herb leaves, then continue to fry and stir for another minute or two.
3. Spoon the onion mixture into a large bowl and let it cool completely. Once cooled, add your pork mince and breadcrumbs, and use your hands to really scrunch everything together. Once it is mixed well, bring the stuffing together into a ball, then cover and chill until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.
4. Pull the skin at the neck-end back so you can see a cavity and push about half of your stuffing inside your turkey. Not too much: you do not want to pack it so tightly it slows down the cooking. Once done, pull and fold the skin over the opening and tuck it under the bird so it looks nice.
5. Turn the turkey around and drop a few small pieces of stuffing into the larger cavity along with your clementine halves and a few sprigs of rosemary. Place your roughly chopped veg in the bottom of a roasting pan and lay your turkey on top. Cover the turkey with tin foil then put it in the hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. The 5kg bird in this recipe will take about 3 to 3½ hours.
6. Check on your turkey every 20 minutes or so and keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan. After 2½ hours, remove the foil so the skin gets golden and crispy.
7. When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven and stick a small sharp knife into the fattest part of the thigh. If the juices run clear and the meat pulls apart easily, it is ready. If not, pop the turkey back in the oven to cook for a bit longer then check again. When you are confident it is cooked, rest the turkey for at least 1 hour. I cover the Turkey while resting under a few sheets of tinfoil and a towel. While resting I pop the duck fat roasties in and you can also get you veg and gravy ready.

Happy Eating!