Salt & pepper turkey
- Mary Cadogan
Save recipe
Serves 8 - 10
Easy
Prep: 45 mins - 1 hr
Cook: 3 hrs - 3 hrs and 30 mins
A star rating of 5 out of 5.4 ratingsRate
loading...
A finishing touch of a lattice of bacon makes this turkey a Christmas dinner centre-stage star
Ad
Skip to ingredients
Alternatives
Complete the dish
Loading...
Ingredients
Nutrition
Units:
MetricUS
-
4.5-5.6kg/10-12lb turkey
thawed if frozen, giblets removed
-
1 tbsp black peppercorns
-
1 tbsp Maldon sea salt
-
1 lemon
-
a few bay leaves
plus extra sprigs to garnish
-
stuffing
of your choice
-
50g butter
melted
-
10-12 rashers streaky bacon
For the gravy
-
2 tbsp plain flour
-
600ml turkey
or chicken stock
-
150ml/0.25 pint port
-
4 tbsp lingonberry
preserve or cranberry sauce
-
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
Keep the screen awake with cook mode on the Good Food app.
Nutrition: per serving for eight
- kcal644
- fat25g
- saturates9g
- carbs9g
- sugars4g
- fibre0g
- protein91g
- salt3.59g
Ad
Method
-
step 1
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/ fan 170C.Wash the turkey inside and out and dry well with kitchen paper. Season inside the bird with salt and pepper.
-
step 2
Coarsely crush the peppercorns with a pestle and mortar and add the sea salt. Finely grate the lemon rind on top and mix together. Quarter the lemon and put inside the body cavity along with a few bay leaves.
-
step 3
If you are stuffing the turkey, stuff the neck end only, pushing it towards the breast. Don’t overfill, as the stuffing will expand on cooking. Any leftover stuffing can be shaped into walnut-sized balls and cooked around the turkey for the last half-hour. Secure the neck end flap with a small metal or wooden skewer.
-
step 4
Tie the turkey legs together with kitchen string to give it a good shape.Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time at 18 minutes per 450g/1lb.
-
step 5
Set the turkey in a large roasting tin. Brush liberally all over with melted butter. Sprinkle the salt and pepper mix evenly over the breast and legs.
-
step 6
Cover the turkey loosely with a large square of foil and roast for the calculated cooking time, basting with the pan juices every hour. Half an hour before the end of the cooking time, remove the foil and string.Re-tie the legs with a rasher of bacon and arrange the rest in a lattice over the breast. Place any stuffing balls around the turkey. Spoon or siphon off 6 tbsp of pan juices into a saucepan for the gravy, then return the turkey to the oven.
-
step 7
At the end of the cooking time, transfer the turkey to a serving platter. Cover tightly with foil and leave to rest for 15-45 minutes.
-
step 8
Meanwhile, make the gravy. Heat the 6 tbsp of pan juices in the saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for 3 minutes until golden. Gradually whisk in the turkey or chicken stock and port, cooking until the gravy is no longer lumpy. Stir in the lingonberry preserve (or cranberry sauce) and mustard and simmer for 5 minutes. Then taste the gravy and season if necessary. Skim off the fat from the juices in the roasting tin, then add about 150ml/1⁄4 pint of the pan juices to the gravy. Heat through then transfer to a warmed gravy boat.
-
step 9
Carve the turkey and serve.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2002
Ad
Comments, questions and tips
Rate this recipe
What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
CommentQuestionTip
Overall rating
A star rating of 5 out of 5.4 ratings
Ad
Ad
Get 3 months of Good Food All Access
Get 3 months of Good Food All Access for just £6. Find triple-tested recipes that take the stress out of deciding what to cook, spend less time planning, and more time enjoying the season.
Loading...
Ad
Loading...
Loading...