Traditional roast turkey

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5.

2. Stuff the turkey with your preferred stuffing. Weigh the stuffed bird and calculate the cooking time (see Cook's Note below).

3. Scatter the onions over a large roasting tin. Place the bird on its side, over the onions and rub the seasoned butter over its skin. Cover the bird in foil in two layers, clinching it tightly around the roasting tin, so the bird is sealed in. Transfer to the oven.

4. Half-way through cooking, turn the bird on to its other side, baste it with the buttery juices, seal it inside the foil, and continue to cook.

5. About 30-40 minutes before it should be ready, remove the foil, turn the bird breast up, baste it again, and season the skin well with coarse sea salt and pepper. Turn the heat up to 200C/gas 6 and cook until it crisps up.

6. Rest the bird for 20 minutes in a warm place while you make the gravy.

7. For the gravy, simmer the giblets for 30 minutes in water or the vegetable water used in par-boiling the potatoes and parsnips. Add the liver in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Sieve this mixture into the roasting pan with the onion and meat juices.

8. Add a splash of red wine and any more meat juices from the resting turkey, and stir while they bubble away for a few minutes. Then strain the lot into a jug before serving.

Cook's Note
For cooking times, allow 33 minutes per kilo or 15 up to a 6.5kg bird. So, a 6.5kg will take three and a half hours. Always calculate like this up to this weight, even if the bird is bigger. For each extra 450g add an extra ten minutes. So, for a 8.7kg bird, the total cooking time will be four and a half hours.

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Ingredients

bronze organic or free-range Turkey, set the giblets and liver aside
stuffing
1 large onion, sliced
200g Butter, softened and well-seasoned
coarse sea salt and pepper

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