Serves: 10 - 12
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cook time: 5 hours including resting time
Preheat an oven to 180°C (160°C Fan) / Gas Mark 4 with the rack in the lowest position.
1) Arrange the vegetables in the bottom of a large deep roasting tray. Pour 400ml of water into the tray and rest a wire rack on top. Cover the wire in tinfoil.
For the herb butter:
2) In a small bowl, mix together butter, herbs, salt and pepper.
For the stuffing
3) Heat the butter in a frying pan and gently fry the onion until soft, add garlic and cook for a minute, then tip into a large bowl, with grated apple, cranberries, sausage meat, breadcrumbs, parsley, eggs and season
Prepare and stuff the turkey
1) Set the turkey onto a large chopping board, remove the neck, liver and giblets and discard.
2) Slide your fingers under the skin at the neck end until you reach the end of the breast, be careful not to tear the skin. Rub half of the herb butter under the skin.
3) Fill both both cavities with stuffing.
4) Tie the legs together with string.
5) Lift the turkey onto the rack and rub the remaining herb butter over the skin.
6) Season generously.
7) Calculating a stuffed 12lb turkey at 20 minutes per pound, cooking time is an estimated 4 hours.
8) Cover the turkey loosely with foil and place into a hot oven to roast for roughly 3 hours, basting every 30 minutes.
9) Remove the foil and continue to roast and baste for a further hour until the skin is crisp. Pierce the thickest part of the thigh and breast to test. The internal core temperature should be 70oC if using a thermometer and the juices should be clear.
10) If the turkey is browning too quickly, cover with foil.
11) Remove the turkey from the oven, cover with foil and rest for 1 hour before carving.
12) Drain the stock from the base of the roasting tray using a sieve to remove the vegetables and use the liquid to make gravy.
1 whole fresh turkey (roughly 12lbs/ 5.4kg in weight) at room temperature
4 large carrots, roughly chopped
2 large onions, cut into chunks
1 large leek, washed, trimmed and roughly chopped
For the herb butter:
200g Dromona butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme
Freshly milled salt and pepper
For the cranberry stuffing:
50g Dromona butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 granny smith’s apples, quartered, cored and grated
160g dried cranberries
500g good quality pork sausage meat
360g breadcrumbs
A handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
2 eggs
Salt and freshly ground pepper
