This traditional turkey will round off the perfect Christmas day. Also, we have some tasty ideas in our Christmas recipes for how to use those leftovers!
10 people270 minutes60 minutes
Ingredients
90gSuperValu Butter
0 - SuperValu Fresh Sage
finely chopped
6kgSuperValu Quality Irish Whole Turkey
7 - SuperValu Streaky Bacon Rashers
Stuffing
0 - Cinnamon
150gSuperValu Butter
4tbspSuperValu Dried Mixed Herbs
finely chopped
75gSuperValu Goodness Mixed Nuts
1mediumSuperValu Onion
225gSuperValu Sausagemeat
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
Melt the butter over a very gentle heat.
Finely chop the onion and add to the butter and cook until very gently cooked but not coloured.
Take off the heat, allow to cool slightly and then add the sausage meat, freshly chopped herbs and the breadcrumbs.
The mixture should not be too dry as it will lead to a dry stuffing.
Season the stuffing, add the pine nuts and ground cinnamon and allow the stuffing to cool completely.
The stuffing can be made a couple of days in advance if you wish.
Mix the 90g of butter with the finely chopped sage.
Loosen the skin away from the breast of the turkey and rub the sage butter onto the breast under the skin.
On Christmas morning stuff the turkey.
Line the cavity with some baking parchment and loosely pack the stuffing into the bird.
Don't forget to weigh the turkey again with the stuffing enclosed (to assist with accurate calculations for cooking times etc).
Put the turkey onto a large roasting tray and lay the streaky rashers of bacon across the breast to protect the meat and prevent it from drying out.
Put the turkey into the oven.
After the first two hours cover with tin foil to prevent excessive browning.
Allocate 20 minutes per pound and then an additional 20–30 minutes in the oven.
In total it should take about 4½ hours.
When a skewer is inserted into the meat nearest the bone (ie the leg) the juices should run completely clear.
Allow the turkey to rest for at least 20 minutes when it comes out of the oven before carving.