Ingredients
- 30ml rapeseed oil or vegetable oil
- 1 x 5kg/11lb good-quality turkey
- 40g butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 1 carrot, roughly chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped
- 3 Bay Leaves
- Bunch of thyme
- 3 sprigs of rosemary
- 1 bulb of garlic, broken not peeled
- 2 pinches sea salt
- 2 pinches freshly ground white pepper
- 300ml water
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1-2 tsp ground arrowroot or cornflour (depending on how thick you like your gravy), dissolved in 1 tbsp cold water
Method
Step 1: Remove the turkey from the fridge and bring to room temperature – this will take at least an hour. When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 23 C
Step 2: In a large, heavy based roasting tray, sweat off all vegetables, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and garlic. This will be your base to place the turkey on.
Step 3: Soften the butter, then season with the salt and freshly ground white pepper.
Step 4: Using a pastry brush or your hands, smear the seasoned butter all over the turkey. Try and get butter up in between the skin and flesh of the turkey, you do this by pulling back the skin.
Step 5: Put some of the vegetables and herbs inside the cavity of the turkey.
Step 6: Place the turkey on top of the remaining vegetables, then roast in the oven for 30 minutes. Baste turkey intermittingly.
Step 7: Reduce the oven temperature to 160C.
Step 8: Pour the water into the roasting tray, then return the turkey to the oven and continue to cook for a further 1 hour, keep basting intermittingly.
Step 9: At the end of the cooking time, test that the turkey is cooked through by inserting a probe into the thickest part of its thigh. The temperature should be 75C. Remove the turkey from the oven and transfer the bird to a large, deep-sided tray, reserving the roasting juices. Set the turkey aside to rest for a minimum of 30 minutes
Step 10: Now your gravy, return the roasting tray used to cook the turkey to the stove top. Bring the cooking juices to the boil over a medium heat, scraping up any burned bits from the bottom of the tray using a wooden spoon
Step 11: Collect the juices released by the turkey as it was resting and add them to the gravy. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper, if needed.
Step 12: Reduce the heat until the gravy is simmering, then stir in the dissolved arrowroot or cornflour and cook until the gravy has thickened to your preference.
Sep 13: Strain the gravy through a fine sieve
into a warmed jug. Keep warm.
To serve: bring the turkey to the table and carve into slices. Pour over the gravy.
Enjoy.
