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Try this porchetta-style turkey, then check out our easy roast turkey, easy turkey crown, turkey gravy and more Christmas turkey recipes.
Ask the butcher for a boned turkey crown; that’s both breasts taken off the bone with the skin still connecting them and the wings taken off. A crown can be prepped ahead, there’s no waste, it carves beautifully and it only takes two hours to cook, so is the ultimate Christmas roast

Ingredients

  • 8 herb and garlic sausage, skinned
  • 100g parmesan, grated
  • a handful of leaves sage, chopped
  • 200g chunk ciabatta, chopped and soaked in 6 tbsp milk
  • 1 boned turkey crown, approximately 3-4kg
  • approximately 18 slices unsmoked thin streaky bacon

Method

  • STEP 1

    Mix the sausagemeat, parmesan, sage and soaked bread with your hands and season really well.

  • STEP 2

    Put the turkey, skin-side down, on a board. You want to butterfly the breasts open – the easiest way to do this is to make three incisions, about 2cm deep, lengthways down each breast, making the turkey breasts wider.

  • STEP 3

    Spoon the stuffing evenly over the surface of the turkey then bring both sides into the middle until all of the stuffing is enclosed. You can skewer the ends together to help you keep the shape if you like.

  • STEP 4

    Lay the bacon out on a board and run the flat of a knife along them to make the slices even longer. Overlap each slice with the last, ensuring you have no gaps.

  • STEP 5

    Sit the turkey roll on the bacon, skin-side down, then wrap the bacon around the turkey. Flip over so all the joins are underneath. Tie with kitchen string in several places along the bird to ensure it holds its shape during cooking. Add a few sage leaves.

  • STEP 6

    Weigh the stuffed joint and calculate the cooking time at 20 minutes per 500g.

  • STEP 7

    When you are ready to cook, heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Put the turkey in a roasting tin neat-side up and cook for the calculated time. Cover the turkey with foil if it’s browning too much in the last half-hour. Rest under loose foil for 20 minutes before carving.

Check out our other Christmas turkey recipes

Best Turkey Recipe

Authors

Janine Ratcliffe Portrait
Janine RatcliffeFood director
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