Turkey with herby butter and fruity stuffing balls recipe

This turkey with herby butter and fruity stuffing balls is a beautiful new way to serve up the biggest meal of the year.

Anchovies are a marmite ingredient but when they're whole but when they're whizzed down into a butter that act more like a seasoning. They add a deep, salty flavour to the butter, but not really any actual 'anchovy' taste. There is enough stuffing here to serve at least 8 people, with some leftovers for turkey sandwiches the next day. The stuffing is partly inserted into the bird and partly cooked separately. For this 4.5kg turkey you will need about three hours, including prep time, but it's a good idea to make the stuffing and prep the turkey the night before. Make sure to also leave enough time for resting, as this is when you should cook the stuffing balls (plus all the rest of your trimmings).

Ingredients

• 4.5kg turkey
• Extra herbs, to garnish

For the stuffing balls:

• 15g butter
• 1 red onion, finely diced
• 1 Bramley apple, grated
• 120g soft dried apricots, thinly sliced
• 70g brown bread, about 2 slices
• 450g sausage meat
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 12-16 rashers streaky bacon

For the anchovy butter:

• 100g salted butter, softened
• 6 anchovies in olive oil
• Zest 1 lemon
• 25g bunch parsley

Method

1. For the stuffing balls, melt the butter in a medium frying pan over a low heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, around 10 mins. Combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl. Add the cooked onion and season well. Set aside 200g of the mixture and shape the remainder into 12-16 golf ball sized balls, wrap each one with bacon then arrange on a lined baking tray. Cover and chill.
2. Unwrap the turkey and remove the giblets. Save the neck for the gravy. Shape the leftover stuffing into a ball and use this to stuff the cavity at the neck end.
3. Whizz or mix the anchovy butter ingredients until they are combined. Using your fingers, prise the skin away from the turkey breast, and gently push most of the butter under the skin. Smother the rest over the breast and legs. Truss the bird for presentation if you like, then chill, covered, until ready to cook.
4. On Christmas Day, place the turkey in a large, deep roasting tin. A 4.5kg turkey will serve 8, but if you’re cooking a larger bird, calculate the cooking time (in mins) by multiplying the weight in kg by 20 mins, then adding 60 mins. A digital thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should read 65ºC-70ºC when the turkey comes out of the oven. The temperature increases during the resting time. roasting tray and leave to bring it up to room temperature. 
5. Heat the oven to 180ºC Fan/Gas 6, then cook for 2 hrs 30 mins (see panel, above left, to calculate the cooking time for your turkey). After 30 mins, baste the turkey and cover the entire tray with a foil tent. When the turkey is cooked, transfer it to a carving platter and rest for 45 mins before carving. Save the cooking juices to make the gravy. 
6. The stuffing balls will need to cook for 45 mins – add them to the oven while the turkey is resting

Top tips for making turkey with herby butter and fruity stuffing balls

Resting is essential for a succulent bird. An uncarved turkey will stay hot, loosely covered somewhere warm, for up to 2 hrs.

So, don’t worry if the other bits take longer than anticipated; just serve with lashings of hot gravy.

A 4.5kg turkey will serve 8, but if you’re cooking a larger bird, calculate the cooking time (in mins) by multiplying the weight in kg by 20 mins, then adding 60 mins. A digital thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat should read 65C-70C when the turkey comes out of the oven. The temperature increases during resting time.

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