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Roast Turkey Crown With Chestnut, Pear and Bacon Stuffing

The Four Seasons Cookbook: for smaller gatherings, a turkey crown is easier and quicker to cook than a whole bird. Latticed bacon keeps the breast moist during cooking. Use your autumn preserves to jazz up the turkey gravy and add sparkle to your Brussels sprouts.

Tips:
The stuffing can be cooked, cooled and frozen. Defrost overnight in the fridge. Crisp in a hot oven for 10–15 minutes.
To check the seasoning for the stuffing, fry a teaspoonful in a little hot oil then taste and adjust the seasoning as required.
For a vegetarian stuffing, replace the bacon with button chestnut mushrooms. Some fresh sage leaves would be a nice addition.
For a meatier stuffing, skin your favourite sausages then mix the sausage meat into the chopped stuffing mix.
Use redcurrant jelly instead of elderberry jelly if you like.

  • Preparation time:
    30
    min(s)
  • Cooking time:
    120
    min(s)
  • Servings:
    6-8

What you'll need

  • 3tbsp port or red wine
  • 1 lemon, grated zest and juice (reserve the lemon halves)
  • 75g (3oz) butter (for turkey crown), softened
  • 1tsp rosemary, finely chopped
  • 450ml (¾ pint) turkey or chicken stock, hot
  • 3tbsp plain flour
  • 1tbsp elderberry jelly (if you’re going for homemade, there’s a fantastic recipe in the book!)
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • Approx. 2kg (4½lb) free-range turkey crown
  • 6 small shallots, peeled and quartered
  • 225g (8oz) fresh breadcrumbs (brown or white)
  • 14 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon
  • 2 large pears, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
  • 2tsp thyme leaves (for the stuffing), finely chopped
  • 30g pack fresh parsley, woody stems discarded
  • 225g (8oz) cooked chestnuts, roughly chopped
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1tbsp thyme leaves (for the turkey crown), chopped
  • 2tbsp light soy sauce
  • 75g (3oz) bacon lardons or thick rashers, snipped
  • 75g (3oz) butter (for stuffing), plus extra if greasing a dish

Products used

How to make

  1. Make the stuffing in advance, cover and chill for up to 48 hours, or bake and freeze (see tips above).
  2. Place the shallots, pears, bacon, parsley, thyme and rosemary in a food processor or blender and blitz briefly until finely chopped but not mushy.
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the shallot and pear mixture and cook for 4–5 minutes to soften slightly. Add the breadcrumbs and chestnuts and mix thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper, then mix in just enough beaten egg to bind the ingredients together.
  4. Spoon into lightly greased muffin tins, or into a shallow ovenproof dish, or roll into 20–24 balls to cook alongside the turkey or on a shallow baking tray. Bake for 25–35 minutes or until crisp and hot right through.
  5. For the turkey, preheat the oven to 200°C/180°fan/Gas 6.
  6. Mix the thyme with the softened butter, lemon zest and juice. Starting from the narrow end of the turkey crown, work your fingers under the skin of the breast to open up a pocket on each side of the breastbone, being careful not to tear the skin. Divide the flavoured butter between the two pockets, spreading it evenly under the skin.
  7. Tuck the lemon halves in around the neck cavity.
  8. Sit the turkey crown in a small roasting tin and season with freshly ground black pepper.
  9. Put the bacon on a board and use the flat side of a knife to stretch the rashers a little. Lay the rashers across the breast to create a lattice (or overlap), covering the whole crown.
  10. Roast for about 1½–2 hours: check every 30 minutes, baste occasionally and cover with foil if the bacon is crisping too quickly. To test that the turkey is cooked through, pierce the thickest part with a skewer: the juices should run clear with no traces of pink.
  11. Transfer the turkey to a serving platter, cover loosely with foil and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.
  12. To make the gravy, pour the juices from the roasting tin into a jug and leave to settle. Skim all but 4 tablespoons of the fat from the top, then tip the remaining juices into a saucepan and place over a medium heat until just simmering.
  13. Whisk in the flour until the mixture is smooth, then pour in the port or wine and stock and whisk again until smooth. Simmer until the gravy starts to thicken, then add the soy sauce and elderberry jelly. Bring the gravy to a steady boil, adding any additional turkey juices released while the meat was resting. Season to taste then pour into a warmed jug ready to serve with the turkey.
  14. Serving suggestion: to make glazed sprouts, boil the Brussels sprouts (as many as you like) until just tender, then drain thoroughly in a colander. Melt 50g (2oz) butter in the hot pan and fry thin wedges of red onion for 5 minutes or until softened and slightly caramelised. Tip the sprouts back into the pan, add 1 tablespoon elderberry jelly (recipe in the cookbook!) and toss well to glaze the sprouts with the jelly. Season with black pepper and serve hot.