This turkey is perfect for your Christmas main course. A delicious honey-thyme glaze and a garlic bread stuffing is sure to keep you stuffed until it’s time for dessert!
Roast turkey with garlic bread stuffing and honey thyme glaze
nYou’ll want to gobble this bird right up when you smell it coming out of the oven! With the addition of walnut crumble greens for the side, this recipe is mouth-watering and definitely worth the wait.
Ingredients
Method
Put bread, zest and onion in a food processor. Process to coarse crumbs for stuffing.
Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C conventional). Discard neck from turkey. Pat dry inside and out with paper towel. Put turkey on a board. Tuck wings behind. Loosely fill neck cavity with some of the stuffing. Using toothpicks, secure skin over neck cavity to enclose stuffing.
Fill large cavity with remaining stuffing. Secure skin over cavity with toothpicks.
Tie legs together with kitchen string.
Put a greased wire rack in a large roasting pan. Put turkey on rack. Brush with butter. Season. Cover tightly with lightly greased foil. Roast turkey for 2 hours. Remove foil.
For the Glaze, in a small jug combine butter, honey, thyme and mustard. Brush turkey with half of the glaze mixture after roasting for 2 hours.
Roast, uncovered, for a further 1 hour 15 minutes, brush with remaining glaze halfway through cooking, until golden and juices run clear when thigh is pierced with a skewer. Cover with foil. Set aside. Remove toothpicks.
Meanwhile, for walnut greens, line a small oven tray with baking paper. Heat sugar and water in a small frying pan on low heat, stirring for 3-5 minutes or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high.
Bring to boil. Boil, without stirring, for 5 minutes or until mixture turns light golden. Add walnuts, shaking to coat, cook for 1 minute until golden. Spoon walnuts and toffee onto prepared tray.
Set aside to cool, then roughly chop.
Using a wooden spoon, beat butter in a bowl until smooth. Stir in blue cheese and garlic. Season.
Heat oil in a large frying pan on medium-high heat. Cook broccolini, beans and asparagus, tossing, for 8 minutes or until well-charred and just tender. Transfer to a serving platter. Dot butter mixture over greens and sprinkle with toffee walnuts.
Serve turkey with greens, gravy and rosemary sprigs.
Does stuffing a turkey change the cooking time?
Adding stuffing to a turkey does mean that the cooking time will be increased. This is so all of the stuffing inside the bird can reach a temperature where unsafe pathogens are killed. After cooking your roast turkey with stuffing that little bit longer, you can enjoy the delicious inside and outside!Â
When roasting a turkey do you roast it covered or uncovered?
You should roast a turkey covered with foil, and baste your turkey with a butter-based sauce or glaze every so often. This is so the turkey does not dry out and stays juicy for optimal enjoyment. After keeping it covered for around 2 hours, you can take off the foil and let the skin get crispy and golden.Â
Do you need to elevate turkey in roasting pan?
It is definitely recommended to elevate your turkey on a wire rack while cooking so bottom is not soaking in juices and getting soggy. Air circulation is also important and elevation will make sure every part of your turkey is cooked thoroughly.Â