Roast turkey with stuffing and gravy recipe
A classic festive centrepiece turkey with two types of stuffing – meaty beef and onion, and apricot and walnut.
Ingredients
For the turkey- 4.5 –5kg (10–11lb) turkey
- 1 pinch each salt and pepper
- 1 onion, peeled
- 500 g minced beef (not too lean as a little fat helps the turkey stay moist)
- 100 g dried or fresh cranberries
- 25 g unsalted butter
- 1 small handful each of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 onion, peeled
- 4 thick slices of bread, preferably wholemeal
- 165 g dried apricots, chopped
- 150 g walnut halves (or chestnuts)
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 1 small handful each of fresh sage, rosemary and thyme leaves, chopped
- 1 orange, zest only
- 1 quantity of cooking juices from the bird (see method)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 500 ml chicken or turkey stock
Details
- Cuisine: British
- Recipe Type: Turkey
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 30 mins
- Cooking Time: 300 mins
- Serves: 10
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.
- For the meat stuffing: put the onion into a food processor and roughly chop. Add the minced beef, cranberries, butter, chopped herbs and a good seasoning of salt and pepper, and whizz briefly, just to combine. Use this to stuff the neck end of the turkey, pushing the bay leaf into the stuffing, and pull the skin over to enclose, securing with a few toothpicks.
- For the apricot and walnut stuffing: put the onion into the food processor and chop, add the bread and chop again. Add the apricots, walnuts, butter, herbs, orange zest and a good seasoning of salt and pepper, and whizz again. The mixture should be quite sticky and moist (add more butter if not). Stuff the cavity of the turkey with this mixture.
- Weigh the turkey and make a note of the weight including the stuffing, then put the bird in a roasting tin.
- Spread the butter over the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and cook for about 4–4½ hours, depending on the amount of stuffing: allow 20 minutes per 500g (17.5oz). Remove the foil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.
- Remove from the oven, place the turkey on a board, cover with foil and leave in a warm place to rest for 1 hour before carving.
- To make the gravy: put the roasting tin with the cooking juices over a medium–high heat, stir the flour into the juices and cook for a few minutes, scraping up the bits from the bottom of the roasting tin with a wooden spoon. Add the white wine and bring to a rapid boil. Add the stock, bring back to the boil and then strain into a saucepan. Place back over the heat and simmer for another 5–10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- To serve, carve the turkey. Slice the meat stuffing and serve with the turkey, with spoonfuls of the apricot stuffing and the gravy on the side.
This recipe is from Table Manners: The Cookbook by Jessie and Lennie Ware (Ebury Press, £22). Photography by Ola O Smit.
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