Your feast for Christmas broken down into simple steps: the end result will be scrumptious!
Ingredients
- 7 kg fresh turkey (keep the giblets aside and use to make a stock for the gravy)
- butter to baste
- 5 slices of streaky bacon
- for the stuffing:
- 1 kg fresh pork sausage meat (we use hick's)
- 50 g fresh sage finely chopped
- 1 large tablespoon of chopped walnuts
- 1 large onion, very finely chopped
- 100 g white breadcrumbs (we used the crusts from the chocolate bread and butter pudding)
- salt and pepper
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 220°C (425°F/Gas 7).
For the Stuffing:
- Combine the breadcrumbs, sage, walnuts and onion in a mixing bowl, then stir in 2 large tablespoons of hot water and mix thoroughly. Next add the sausage meat, seasoning and again mix thoroughly.
- Place the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey and if you have any remaining, place it in the into the crop at the neck end of the bird.
- Smear the entire turkey in butter, season with salt and pepper, then cover the breast with the streaky bacon and place in a suitable roasting tin. Loosely cover the turkey with kitchen foil and place in a pre-heated oven.
- 7-9kg Turkey should be cooked for 45 minutes at 220°C (425°F/Gas 7), then reduce the oven to 170°C (325°F/Gas 3). The turkey should be cooked for 25 minutes per 450g and basted every 40mins with its own juices. Increase the oven back to 200°C (400°F/Gas 6) and remove the foil for the final 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and check to make sure it's cooked through – do this by placing a skewer into the leg of the turkey, you'll know its cooked when the juices run clear.
- Rest the turkey for 20 minutes before carving.
