Maple and clementine turkey with sherry gravy

If you want to stuff the bird under the skin, remember to weigh it after stuffing to calculate the cooking time.

SERVES 8 with leftovers PREPARATION TIME 45min, plus resting COOKING TIME about 3¼hr

5.4kg free-range turkey l 4 clementines, plus extra l to garnish, optional

125g butter, softened l

8 thyme sprigs, plus extra, l optional, to garnish

2 fat garlic cloves, crushed l 3tbsp maple syrup l

2 large onions, skin on, l thickly sliced

FOR THE GRAVY

25g plain flour l 150ml dry sherry l

1 Take the turkey out of the fridge and remove any wrappings, giblets or trussing 1hr before cooking. Pat dry with kitchen paper and use tweezers to pluck out any stray feathers. Allow the turkey to come up to room temperature. Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time, allowing 30-35min per kg.

2 Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Finely grate the zest of 2 of the clementines into a medium bowl. Halve the zested and unzested clementines and set aside. To the zest bowl, add the softened butter, leaves from half the thyme sprigs, garlic, maple syrup and some seasoning. Mix.

3 Lift up the turkey neck flap and use your fingers to ease the skin gently away from some of the breast meat. Work half the butter mixture under the skin and over the breast. Place the zested, halved clementines and remaining thyme sprigs in the central turkey cavity.

4 Make a trivet in a large, sturdy roasting tin with onion slices. Loosely tie the turkey legs together with kitchen string and rub the remaining flavoured butter all over the bird. Add the remaining halved clementines to the tin along with 100ml water and loosely cover the tin with foil.

5 Roast for the calculated time, basting occasionally. Remove the foil for the last 30min of cooking. To check the turkey is cooked, insert a fork into the thickest part of the breast and check that the juices run golden and clear. If there’s any red tinge to the juice, return the bird to the oven and keep checking every 10min. Alternatively, use a meat thermometer – the temperature needs to read at least 72°C when inserted into the thickest part of the breast.

6 Transfer the turkey to a board (set aside the roasting tin for gravy); cover well with foil and tea towels to help keep the heat in. Leave to rest in a warm place for at least 30min or up to 1¼hr.

7 Make the gravy. Spoon off all but about 2tbsp excess fat from the roasting tin (leaving other roasting remains in tin). Put the tin over medium hob heat and whisk in the flour, mashing the onion and clementines as you go. Cook, whisking, for 1min. Whisk in the sherry (scraping up all the sticky bits from the base of the tin) and leave to bubble for a few min. Whisk in 350ml water and leave to simmer, whisking occasionally, for a couple of min, until thickened. Strain into a warmed gravy jug or clean pan (to reheat when needed). Check seasoning.

8 To serve, unwrap turkey and transfer to a warm serving plate. Garnish with extra thyme sprigs and fried clementine wedges, if you like. Serve with gravy.