Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Roast Turkey
Prep time & cook time: 3 hr 40 min | Serves: 8
This roast turkey recipe tastes amazing all year round, but the festive additions of sage, pancetta, nutmeg and orange make it perfect for Christmas season. Thanks go to Jamie Oliver for another mouth-watering recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 sprig of fresh sage
- 12 strips of pancetta or thinly sliced streaky bacon
- 1 bulb of garlic
- 4 medium red onions
- 2 sticks of celery
- 1 big handful of breadcrumbs
- 1 handful of dried apricots
- 300 grams minced pork
- 1 lemon
- 1 pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 large free-range egg
- 12 small sprigs of fresh rosemary, plus a few extra
- 4-4.5 kg higher-welfare turkey, at room temperature
- 2 carrots
- 1 large orange
- Olive oil
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1.1 litres of chicken or vegetable stock
Method
- Preheat oven to maximum heat. Heat a saucepan until medium hot and add a splash of olive oil. Pick the sage leaves and add to the pan with 6 of the pancetta or bacon strips.
- Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion. Trim and chop the celery and add to the pan with the garlic and onion. Fry everything gently until soft and golden brown.
- Take the pan off the heat, add the breadcrumbs and (while the mix is cooling) roughly chop the apricots and stir them in.
- When the stuffing has cooled down, add the pork, lemon zest, nutmeg, egg and lots of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Mix together well.
- Slice remaining pancetta/bacon strips in half and slice 1 peeled garlic clove into thin slivers. Place a rosemary sprig and a garlic sliver on one end of a halved strip of pancetta and roll tightly. Repeat with the other pancetta pieces until you have 12 little rolls.
- Stab the thighs & drumsticks of the turkey in 6 places on each side. Push a pancetta roll into each hole until it’s just peeking out. This will give your turkey thighs incredible flavour and keep them moist while they cook.
- Peel the remaining onions and chop in half. Peel and thickly slice the carrots.
- Wipe the turkey inside and out with kitchen paper. Place it on a board, with the neck end towards you. Find the edge of the skin that’s covering the turkey’s breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat. If you’re careful you should be able to pull all the skin away from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides. Do this slowly and try not to make any holes!
- Lift the loose skin at the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop anything leaking out. Pop the orange in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and stuff it into the cavity.
- Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (allow around 20 minutes per 500 grams).
- Place the turkey on a large roasting tray. Rub it all over with olive oil and season well. Surround with the chopped carrots, onions and remaining cloves of garlic, cover with tin foil and place in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down right away to 180°C and roast for the calculated time, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce it with a knife or a skewer. Remove the tin foil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.
- Carefully lift the turkey out of the tray and rest on a board covered loosely with foil for at least 1 hour (preferably 2 hours for bigger birds).
- When the resting time’s nearly up, skim fat from the surface of the roasting tray and add the flour and stock. Place the tray on the hob and bring to the boil on a high heat. When the gravy starts to thicken, strain it into a bowl.
- Carve your turkey, serve with gravy and enjoy!
