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Roast Turkey
A classic Christmas turkey recipe featuring herb and lemon butter rubbed under the skin for maximum flavour and moisture. The bird is stuffed with aromatics, roasted until golden and basted regularly.
Ingredients
Method
Herb Butter
- Place the butter in a large bowl and season slightly with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil, the lemon zest, crushed garlic and the chopped parsley, mix well until fully combined.
Preparation of Turkey
- Preheat the oven to 220°C. Season the turkey with salt and pepper, make sure the cavity is also seasoned once the giblets are removed. Add the chopped onions, lemon, garlic cloves and bay leaves within the cavity.
- Separate the skin from the flesh on the breast of the turkey from top to bottom and gently stuff the compound butter between the skin and meat. Also add a few bay leaves under the skin of the breasts. Cover the outside of the turkey with the rest of the butter, and season with salt, pepper and a dash of olive oil.
Cooking the Turkey
- Ensuring the turkey is breast-side up, roast the bird in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Once this is done, take the turkey out the oven and baste it with the juices that have collected in the roasting tray. Place the bacon rashers over the turkey breasts to trap moisture. Baste over the bacon again.
- Lower the oven to 180°C and cook for approximately 2-2.5 hours. Tip: 30 minutes per kg of the bird
- To test whether the turkey has been cooked to the desirable level, insert a skewer into the thickest part of the leg; if the juices run clear rather than pink the turkey is ready. If the juices do run pink, cook for a further 15 minutes and check again, until the juices run clear.
Presentation
- Once removed from the oven, allow approximately 45 minutes for the turkey to rest.Tip: this would be a good opportunity to make a gravy!
- Remove the bay leaves from under the skin before carving. We recommend serving with some seasonal vegetables and a hearty gravy or cranberry sauce. Enjoy!