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Burnt lemon & thyme butter turkey crown

Burnt lemon & thyme butter turkey crown on a presentation plate

Burnt lemon & thyme butter turkey crown

Name: Burnt lemon & thyme butter turkey crown
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 1 h 40 min
Total time: 2 h 10 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 1 lemon zested and halved, plus extra lemon halves to serve (optional); small bunch of thyme; 2 garlic cloves finely chopped or crushed; 75g butter softened; 2 onions unpeeled, roughly chopped; 2kg turkey crown

Barney Desmazery

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Serves 6

Easy

Prep: 30 mins

Cook: 1 hr and 40 mins

plus resting

A star rating of 5 out of 5.4 ratingsRate

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Char the cut sides of the lemons in this dish to add a smoky note that transforms the flavour of the turkey. It helps keep the lean breast meat succulent too

Gluten-free

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

1 lemon

zested and halved, plus extra lemon halves to serve (optional)
small bunch of thyme
2 garlic cloves

finely chopped or crushed
75g butter

softened
2 onions

unpeeled, roughly chopped
2kg turkey crown

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Nutrition: Per serving

kcal608
fat29g
saturates13g
carbs16g
sugars13g
fibre3g
protein68g
salt1.4g

Method

step 1

If you have the time, the day before you want to roast the turkey, heat a frying pan or griddle pan over a high heat and sear the cut sides of the lemon halves for 5 mins until well charred. Leave to cool slightly, then squeeze the juice into a bowl and add the lemon zest. Pick the leaves off most of the thyme sprigs, reserving a few whole sprigs, and add the leaves to the bowl along with the garlic, butter and a large pinch of salt. Mash everything together. Will keep chilled for up to a day. Scatter the onions into a roasting tin, sit the turkey crown on top and season well. Will keep covered and chilled for up to 24 hrs. Alternatively, you can prepare the butter and crown on the day you wish to serve.
step 2

If you’ve chilled the butter and crown, remove both from the fridge 1-2 hrs before roasting to come to room temperature. Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Smear the flavoured butter all over the turkey skin, then roast the turkey for 1 hr 30 mins, basting every 30 mins or so until golden and cooked through – a digital thermometer should read 70C when inserted in the thickest part of the breast. Leave to rest for at least 20 mins before carving, reserving the onions and roasting juices from the tin to use in the gravy recipe, right. If you like, sear more lemon halves in a hot pan to serve alongside the turkey crown. Garnish with the whole thyme sprigs and, if you have them, a few bay leaves, too.

Recipe tip

You can also use the flavoured butter on a large, whole chicken which will cook in about the same time. Or, increase the ingredient quantities for the butter by half, then spread over a whole turkey – just add another hour to the cooking time.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2023

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