Jamie's Christmas Turkey

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Jamie Oliver

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Recipe summary

If you're worried about cooking the perfect Christmas turkey because you're afraid you’ll get it wrong, don't be. This recipe is nice and simple and will help you achieve brilliant results for your Christmas meal.

© Jamie Oliver 2009. For Jamie Oliver's new book, Ministry of Food, visit www.jamieoliver.com.

Preparation time:
Cooking time:
Yield: 8-10

Ingredients

Jamie's Christmas Turkey

1 5 kilogram turkey, preferably free-range or organic
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clementine, halved
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly chopped

Stuffing

olive oil
2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a few sprigs of fresh sage, leaves picked and roughly chopped
300 grams good-quality pork mince
1 handful breadcrumbs

Directions

Jamie's Christmas Turkey

Take your turkey out of the fridge about an hour before you’re ready to cook it so it comes up to room temperature before roasting. Give it a good rinse then pat it dry with some kitchen paper, making sure you soak up any water in the cavity. Drizzle the meat with a good lug of olive oil, add a few good sprinkles of salt and pepper and then rub this seasoning all over the bird, making sure you get in to all the nooks and crannies.
Preheat your oven to high and start on the stuffing. When the stuffing is ready, turn the turkey around and drop a few small pieces of stuffing into the larger cavity along with your clementine halves and a few sprigs of rosemary. Place your roughly chopped veg in the bottom of a roasting pan and lay your turkey on top. Cover the turkey with tin foil then put it in the hot oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 180°c/350°f/gas 4. Cook for about 35 to 40 minutes per kilo. The 5kg bird in this recipe will take about 3 to 3½ hours.
Check on your turkey every 20 minutes or so and keep it from drying out by basting it with the lovely juices from the bottom of the pan. After 2½ hours, remove the foil so the skin gets golden and crispy.
When the time is up, take your turkey out of the oven and stick a small sharp knife into the fattest part of the thigh. If the juices run clear and the meat pulls apart easily, it’s ready. If not, pop the turkey back in the oven to cook for a bit longer then check again. Once ready, cover the turkey with tin foil and a few clean tea towels for 30 minutes and let it rest while you get your veg and gravy ready.

Stuffing

Pour a lug or two of olive oil into a large pan on a medium heat and fry off your chopped onion for about 10 minutes or until softened. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper, the ground nutmeg and your chopped sage leaves, then continue to fry and stir for another minute or two.
Spoon the onion mixture into a large bowl and let it cool completely. Once cooled, add your pork mince and breadcrumbs and use your hands to really scrunch everything together. Once it’s mixed really well, bring the stuffing together into a ball, then cover and chill until you’re ready to stuff your turkey.