Rolled Turkey with Quinoa Cranberry Stuffing
Servings: 12
This Rolled Turkey with Quinoa Cranberry Stuffing is the ultimate special occasion meal... truely fit for a crowd.
Ingredients
Stuffing
- 60 g butter
- 1 red onion/s - finely chopped
- 4 stick/s celery - finely chopped
- 3 clove/s garlic - minced
- 250 ml chicken broth or stock (1 cup)
- 170 g quinoa (1 cup)
- ¼ cup/s fresh sage leaves - finely chopped
- 3 tbsp flat leaf parsley - finely chopped
- 80 g pistachio nuts - toasted (⅔ cup)
- 60 g dried cranberries (½ cup)
- 4 tbsp almond meal (or more to thicken the stuffing)
- 1 tsp sea salt - or to taste
- 1 egg/s
- ground black pepper - to taste
Turkey
- 7 kg free-range or organic turkey - whole (approx.)**
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil - extra virgin
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste
- 500 ml water
- 2 stick/s celery - diced
- 2 carrot/s - diced
- 1 red onion/s - diced
- 4 clove/s garlic - diced
Gravy
- 60 ml red wine (¼ cup)
- 60 ml chicken broth or stock - optional, only if needed (¼ cup)
- 2 tsp cornflour (optional, only if you feel you'd like a thicker gravy)
- 1 tbsp water - to form a slurry with the cornflour
Instructions
Stuffing
- In a medium sized pot, melt the butter and sweat the onion and celery (with the lid on) until its softened (but not browned). Set aside in a mixing bowl.
- Rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve really well for at least 1 minute (this removes the bitter saponins from the quinoa). Cook the quinoa by placing it into a pot with 2 cups of water.
- Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat, then decrease the heat a bit to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook uncovered until the quinoa has absorbed all of the water, about 10 to 12 minutes.
- Remove the pot from heat, cover, and let the quinoa steam for 5 minutes. This step gives the quinoa time to pop open and the little white spiral to appear. After 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the quinoa with a fork. Allow to cool.
- Now mix all the stuffing ingredients together. Taste and adjust the seasoning before adding the egg and mixing through. Keep airtight in the fridge until ready to add to the turkey (I make this a day ahead).
- I personally take the stuffing to my butcher to de-bone the turkey and roll it for me. If you want to tackle this yourself, there are heaps of YouTube tutorials on boning and rolling a whole turkey.
- Once the turkey is boned, it will weigh approx. 4 kg. Work off around 30 mins per kg.
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C / 400°F (fan-forced).
Turkey
- Place the turkey on a large baking tray. Pat the skin dry and drizzle with olive oil and then season well.
- Pour the water into the base of the roasting dish and add the celery, carrots, onion and garlic.
- Cover the turkey with baking paper and then tightly wrap the baking dish in foil (so it retains the moisture).
- Cook for 1.5 hours then remove the foil and baking paper and increase the heat to 220°C / 425°F. Cook for another 20 minutes to brown the skin. ***
- The turkey is cooked when the juices run clear when pierced. I also use a meat thermometer to ensure it is cooked.
Gravy
- Set the turkey aside on the chopping board (loosley cover with foil) while you make a gravy using the pan juices. Pour all of the juices and vegetables into a small pan. Bring to the boil and add the red wine.
- Let it simmer rapidly to reduce and thicken. You may like to add more stock to the pan to increase the amount of gravy you make.
- You can strain it or puree it with the vegges in it (or just enjoy it chunky). Taste and season to taste.
- If you feel you'd like a thicker gravy, mix the optional cornflour with the tablespoon of water to form a slurry, and mix in with the gravy, stirring until it thickens.
Turkey Size & Cooking Times
- ** When deciding on the size of the turkey you buy, work off about 250 g per person (remembering the boned turkey will weigh a lot less than the whole - my 7kg turkey became just over 4kg). I must say I like to over-cater and like having leftovers for Boxing Day. This recipe would definiately stretch to 16 people.
- ***The cook time will vary a little depending on how thick it is rolled so check the meat frequently ( in 2-3 different parts of the roll). If it's not cooked, add 10 minutes at a time. If you think it's cooked, but the skins not brown, pop under a grill watching it carefully for a few minutes to brown it.
- I always ask the butcher for the bones and carcass which makes the most delicious bone broth.