Our Guide On How To Stuff Your Christmas Turkey

It's never too late to learn how to stuff your Christmas turkey. Our Michelin star chef Jeff has compiled this simple step by step guide on how to perfect your stuffed festive turkey this festive season.

"The stuffing can be flavoured with many flavours, I like to use chopped prunes & orange peel but you can let your imagination go wild. Use your favourite flavours & try swapping the chestnuts for mixed seeds. Other herbs can be used such as parsley, lovage and/or fresh thyme."

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO STUFF YOUR TURKEY

• 1 x free range turkey
• Small pot of melted butter
• Butchers string
• 1 long skewer

INGREDIENTS FOR STUFFING YOUR TURKEY

• 450g Nidderdale Sausage meat
• 100g fresh white breadcrumbs
• 100g chopped chestnuts
• 150g dried mixed fruits roughly chopped
• 1 large free range egg
• 1 large white onion (peeled & finely chopped)
• 1 orange zest & juice
• Dozen or so fresh sage leaves roughly chopped
• Pinch ground mixed spice
• Pinch sea salt & cracked black pepper

THE METHOD TO STUFFING YOUR TURKEY

In nine easy steps, you will have cooked a delicious stuffed turkey the whole family can enjoy this Christmas. To get started simply:

1. Soften the onions in the butter over a low heat until translucent, remove from heat & cool.
2. Once the onions are cool, pour them into the sausage meat with the remaining ingredients & mix together thoroughly.
3. Remove the giblets from the cavity of the turkey prior to stuffing. Keep these to one side as they make a great flavour addition to your gravy.
4. To start stuffing the bird, insert around one third of the stuffing into the neck cavity of the turkey. Pull the neck skin over the stuffing to the back of the turkey and secure with a skewer.

5. Tuck the wing tips under body to avoid over-browning while roasting.

6. Next, loosely spoon the remaining stuffing into the body cavity. Tie the drumsticks together with kitchen (butchers) string.

7. Place the turkey breast side up on a trivet of vegetables in a shallow roasting tray.

8. Brush with melted butter. Season with sea salt then insert an oven-safe meat thermometer into a thick portion of the inner thigh area, not touching the bone or use an instant-read thermometer towards the end of roasting time.

9. The thermometer should read a minimum of 70°C in the thickest part of the bird & the centre of the stuffing, when pierced the juices should run clear.

Note: this stuffing also works well with goose, duck, cockerel & game birds.

CHOOSE QUALITY MEAT THIS FESTIVE PERIOD

As a family, celebrate Christmas by choosing quality meat for your dinner table. At Farmison we are leading the way for households to be eating better meat. From learning where your meat is sourced through our traceability and meat provenance efforts, to explaining the differences between each British breed. Discover our full Christmas range online today.