ROAST TURKEY WITH CHESTNUT & APPLE STUFFING

Buy the best turkey you can afford – it should definitely be free-range.

Serves 8-10 6kg (13lb 4oz) oven-ready turkey, preferably with giblets 100g (3½oz) softened butter Sea salt and black pepper For the stuffing 600g (1lb 5oz) sausage meat 1 turkey liver, finely chopped (if you have the giblets)

1 onion, finely chopped

200g (7oz) chestnuts, peeled and roughly chopped

2 eating apples or quinces, cored and grated

1tsp allspice berries, ground 1tbsp finely chopped thyme 4tbsp finely chopped parsley

Zest of 1 lemon For the gravy Turkey giblets

1 onion, roughly chopped 2 carrots, roughly chopped 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped 2 bay leaves

1 thyme sprig

500ml (18fl oz) chicken stock 2tbsp plain flour

100ml (3½fl oz) red or white wine

Put all the stuffing ingredients into a bowl and mix them thoroughly by hand. Make sure the mixture is at room temperature before stuffing the turkey. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan 170°C/gas 5. Weigh both the turkey and the stuffing, to calculate the cooking time from their combined weight later. Split the stuffing between the cavity of the turkey and the neck end. At the neck, pull the skin up away from the flesh and place the stuffing between flesh and skin. Pull the neck flap down over the stuffing and tuck it under the bird.

Put the turkey, breast-side up, in a large roasting tin. Smear butter all over it, concentrating on the breast, then season with salt and pepper. Take a large sheet of foil and use it to cover the whole bird, tucking it over the edges of the roasting tin.

To work out the cooking time, allow 20 minutes per kilo of bird and stuffing, plus a further 90 minutes. A 6kg turkey with stuffing will need about 3½ hours. Roast the turkey according to your calculations, then 50 minutes before the cooking time is up, remove the foil and continue to roast, allowing the skin to brown. Start checking to see if the turkey is done 20 minutes after removing the foil. The best way to check whether the turkey is cooked is to use a meat thermometer. The temperature of the thickest part of the meat – usually the thigh – should be 71°C. You can also pierce the same part with a skewer and see if the juices run clear.

To ensure the stuffing is properly cooked, insert a

skewer into the cavity for 5 seconds. Take the skewer out, place it on your finger and if after 1 second it’s too hot to touch, the stuffing is ready. When the turkey is done, transfer it to a large serving platter and cover with foil to rest while you make the gravy.

For the gravy, first make the giblet stock while the turkey is roasting. Put the giblets, except the liver, in a pan with the onion, carrots, celery, bay leaves and thyme. Cover with 500ml of water and the stock, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 1-1½ hours. Strain the liquid into a bowl through a sieve.

Strain the juices from the roasting tin into another bowl and spoon off as much fat as possible. Put the tin over a medium heat, pour the juices back in and add the flour. Stir until well combined, scraping the sediment from the bottom. Add up to 500ml of giblet stock and stir until all the sediment is incorporated. Transfer this to a saucepan and stir in the wine, then bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes. Season to taste.