Easy to carve and super-succulent, thanks to a simple dry brine where you sprinkle the meat with salt. A stuffed breast makes an impressive alternative to a whole bird, saving time and precious oven space on the big day.
Ingredients
- 2 kg boneless turkey breast
- 1 tbsp sea salt flakes or kosher salt
- 1⁄2 tsp cumin seeds, lightly toasted and crushed
- 1⁄4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1⁄4 tsp finely ground black pepper
- 16 slices unsmoked streaky bacon
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 6 garlic cloves, bashed
- 2–3 bay leaves
- A few thyme and rosemary sprigs
- 3 tsp Seville orange marmalade
- 1 tbsp whisky or bourbon (optional)
- 2–3 clementines, halved
- For the stuffing:
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 3 good-quality pork sausages, casing removed
- 75 g dried apricots, roughly chopped
- 75 g pistachios, roughly chopped
- 50 g fresh breadcrumbs
- Handful parsley, finely chopped
- Finely grated zest of 1 orange
- You will also need: Kitchen string, to tie
Instructions
1 Start this recipe one day ahead. Mix the salt, cumin seeds, rosemary and pepper, then rub all over the turkey, cover and chill overnight. For the stuffing, sauté the onion and garlic in a glug of oil for 5 min until softened. Cool, then mix with the remaining ingredients and plenty of seasoning.
2 Heat the oven to 160 °C Fan/ Gas. 4. Put the turkey breast skin-side down on a board.
3 Using a sharp knife with the blade parallel with the board, cut through the breast horizontally about halfway down, stopping about 5 cm from the other side. Open out like a book.
4 Put the stuffing along the centre of the opened breast like a sausage. Fold over the bottom flap of turkey to enclose the stuffing and turn the right side up.
5 Wrap the turkey in the bacon, overlapping the slices, then tie with kitchen string a few times along the length of the breast. Put the vegetables, garlic and herbs in a roasting tin and position the turkey on top. Loosely cover the turkey with foil and roast for 1 hr.
6 Gently heat the marmalade and alcohol, if using, in a pan until melted. Remove the tin from the oven and increase the temperature to 200 °C Fan/ Gas 7. Uncover the turkey and liberally brush with the glaze. Add the clementines to the pan and return to the oven for 30 min, basting several more times until caramelised and the turkey is cooked. Set the turkey aside, reserving the contents of the pan for the gravy.
7 Slice the turkey and serve garnished with the roasted clementine, herbs and other fruits if you like – we used redcurrants and figs.
Notes
TIP: Assemble up to one day ahead. Cover and chill, then bring to room temp 1 hour before roasting. If you like stuffing balls, make extra and roast alongside the bird
