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Serves: 6
TASTE OF CHRISTMAS FACT
Sharing a meal with family and friends is a wonderful way to enjoy the festive season and we wanted to celebrate this year with a traditional roasted turkey recipe with a contemporary twist. The turkey breast is rolled around a homemade stuffing flavoured with lemon thyme, roasted garlic, pancetta, and cranberry sauce which allows the flavours of both to combine while roasting.
INGREDIENTS
- 270gm Sliced Brioche Bread – remove crusts.
- 20ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 230gm Red Onion – top, tail, peel, halve and finely dice.
- 6 sprigs Lemon Thyme – pick leaves, rinse, and finely chop.
- 1 Garlic Bulb – prick the bulb 4 times with a fork, roast in oven at 160°C for 50-60 minutes, or until the bulb has softened. Allow to cool, then slice off ½ cm from the bulb’s base, squeeze out the garlic puree. Refrigerate in an airtight container until required.
- 12 Flat Leaf Parsley Leaves – rinse, drain and roughly chop.
- 70gm Pancetta – cut into ½cm dice.
- 100gm Cranberry Sauce
- 100gm Unsalted Butter – melt.
- 40ml Chicken Stock (salt reduced)
- 1 Egg – crack and beat.
- To Taste – Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1.75Kg Turkey Breast (skin on) – butterflied and flattened to 2cm thickness.
- As Required – Butcher’s Twine (string)
METHOD
- Pre-heat an oven to a moderate temperature – 160°C.
- Place the brioche bread slices onto a baking tray, and bake in the oven for 5 minutes to partially dry out. Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Tear the bread slices into small pieces, and pulse in a food processor until they resemble coarse breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs into a mixing bowl.
- Place a sauté pan over a moderate heat. Add and heat the oil. Add the onions and sauté, stirring regularly until they have softened. Add the thyme and continue to sauté for a further 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and add to the mixing bowl.
- Add the garlic puree, parsley, pancetta, cranberry sauce, 50gm of the butter, chicken stock, and egg to the mixing bowl. Mix until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined, then season to taste.
- On a work surface, lay out the turkey breast, skin side down and evenly distribute the stuffing along the centre of the breast.
- Roll the turkey breast into a tight roll so that the stuffing is completely encased, then tie the turkey breast approximately 5 times at even intervals along the length of the breast with butcher’s twine.
- Evenly brush the turkey with the remaining butter and lightly season with sea salt. Place onto a roasting tray, then place into the oven and roast for 1½ hours, or until the turkey is just cooked through, basting it every 20 minutes with pan juices. Remove from the oven, cover with aluminium foil and set to one side to rest for 10 minutes.
TO SERVE
Remove the butcher’s twine from the turkey breast. Place it onto a serving board or platter, accompanied by a selection of roast vegetables, pan juice gravy and cranberry sauce.
