For an easier to carve option this Christmas Day, try this rolled turkey breast, which is stuffed with a sweet and aromatic stuffing. I love the combination of maple, orange, smoked bacon and apple spiked with the cranberries, but you can easily adapt this with your own favourite flavours.
Ingredients
- 3kg turkey breast, skin on
- 50g softened butter
- Juice of 1 orange
- 5 tblsp maple syrup
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
- For the Stuffing:
- 100g butter
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 tblsp chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 tblsp chopped fresh sage leaves
- 200g breadcrumbs
- 100g dried cranberries, finely chopped
- Sea salt and pepper
- For the Gravy:
- 250ml white wine
- 250ml chicken stock
- 1 tblsp plain flour (optional)
Method
- To make the stuffing, heat a frying pan over a medium heat and melt the butter. Add in the onion and fry gently for 6 minutes until completely softened. Place the rest of the stuffing ingredients in a mixing bowl and add the cooked onion. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper and mix until completely combined. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200C (400F), Gas Mark 6. Butterfly the turkey breast or ask your butcher to do it for you. Lay it flat on a chopping board and cover with cling film then, using a rolling pin, bash it out a little so that the thickness of the meat is even all over. Pile on the stuffing down the centre and then, carefully, tightly roll it up and using kitchen string tie it in 2.5cm intervals.
- Place the stuffed and tied breast in a roasting tin. Rub all over with softened butter and season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Cover with tin foil and roast the turkey breast in the middle shelf of the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes (or 40 minutes per kg).
- Whisk together the orange juice and maple syrup and pour a little over the bird every now and then to baste. Check that it's cooked by inserting a metal skewer to the centre to see that the skewer is very hot and the juices run clear when removed. Save half the mix to add to the gravy.
- Place the turkey on a chopping board with deep grooves and cover with tin foil. Place the roasting tin over a medium heat and whisk in the white wine to deglaze the tin, scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon.
- Add in the chicken stock and reduce by half. If you want a thicker sauce, add three tablespoons of the gravy liquid to a small bowl and whisk together with 1 tablespoon of plain flour. When you have a smooth mixture whisk this back into the gravy and bubble away until it reduces the desired thickness. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper. Strain into a small saucepan and whisk in the remaining maple syrup mixture. Bring to a steady simmer until it reduces a little.
- Slice up the turkey and serve with the warm gravy and the Christmas sides of your choice.
