ROASTING PAN FOR TURKEY RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to maximum. Heat a saucepan until medium hot and add a splash of olive oil. Pick the sage leaves and add to the pan with 6 of the pancetta or bacon strips.
  2. Peel and chop 2 garlic cloves and 1 onion. Trim and chop the celery and add to the pan with the garlic and onion. Fry everything gently until soft and golden brown. Take the pan off the heat, add the breadcrumbs and, while the mix is cooling down, roughly chop the apricots and stir them in.
  3. When the stuffing has cooled down, add the pork, lemon zest, nutmeg, egg and lots of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, and mix everything together well. Slice the remaining strips of pancetta or bacon in half and peel and slice 1 peeled garlic clove into thin slivers. Place a rosemary sprig and a garlic sliver on one end of a halved strip of pancetta and roll it up tightly. Repeat with the other pieces of pancetta until you have 12 little rolls.
  4. Stab the thighs and drumsticks of the turkey in 6 places on each side. Push a little pancetta roll into each hole until it just peeps out. This will give your turkey thighs a fantastic flavour and will keep them moist while they cook.
  5. Peel the remaining onions and chop in half, and peel and thickly slice the carrots.
  6. Give your turkey a good wipe, inside and out, with kitchen paper, and place it on a board, with the neck end towards you. Find the edge of the skin that's covering the turkey's breasts and gently peel it back. Work your fingers and then your hand under the skin, freeing it from the meat. If you're careful you should be able to pull all the skin away from the meat, keeping it attached at the sides. Go slowly and try not to make any holes!
  7. Lift the loose skin at the neck end and spoon the stuffing between the skin and the breast, tucking the flap of skin underneath to stop anything leaking out. Pop the orange in the microwave for 30 seconds to warm it up and stuff it into the cavity.
  8. Weigh the stuffed turkey and calculate the cooking time (about 20 minutes per 500g/1lb 2oz).
  9. Place the bird on a large roasting tray, rub it all over with olive oil and season well. Surround with the chopped carrots, onions and remaining cloves of garlic, cover with tin foil and place in the preheated oven. Turn the heat down right away to 180°C/350°F/gas 4 and roast for the calculated time, or until the juices run clear from the thigh if you pierce it with a knife or a skewer. Remove the tin foil for the last 45 minutes to brown the bird.
  10. Carefully lift the turkey out of the tray and rest on a board covered loosely with foil for at least 1 hour, preferably 2 hours for bigger birds.
  11. When the resting time's nearly up, skim off the surface fat from the roasting tray and add the flour and stock. Place the tray on the hob and bring to the boil on a high heat. When the gravy starts to thicken, strain it into a bowl.
  12. Carve your turkey, serve with the gravy and dig in!

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Oil a roasting pan and set it aside.
• Put the onion into the bowl of a mini food processor. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zest from the lemon in thin strips, being careful not to cut into the bitter white pith. Add the lemon zest to the food processor and reserve the whole lemon for another use. Chop the onion and lemon zest until fine. Add the sage, parsley, olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt and pulse until it forms a coarse paste.
• Put 2 of the bay leaves and the butter into a small pan and heat over medium-low heat until the butter is bubbling. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Put the turkey breasts on a work surface. Carefully run your fingers between the skin and the flesh from 1 end, being careful not to pull it completely off, creating a pocket. Season the turkey breasts generously with salt and pepper. Stuff half of the herb paste under the skin of each breast, and spread it evenly under the skin. Transfer the breasts to the roasting pan, and slide 2 bay leaves underneath each one. (The heat of the pan will release the bay leaf oils and flavor the breast.) Using a pastry brush, baste the breasts with half of the bay butter. Place the turkey in the oven and immediately decrease the temperature to 400 degrees F. After 20 minutes, baste the turkey breasts with the remaining butter, and roast for an additional 20 to 25 minutes, until cooked through, and a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the breast registers 170 degrees F.
• Remove from the oven, transfer to a platter, cover, and let rest for 10 minutes before carving while you make the gravy.
• Put the roasting pan over the burner on medium heat. Sprinkle the flour over the pan juices, and cook, stirring, for a few minutes. Add the apple brandy, and scrape the pan to lift the bits that are stuck to the bottom. Cook for a minute to burn off the alcohol, then, while stirring, pour in the apple cider. Bring to a simmer, and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slice the turkey breast on the diagonal, and serve with warm gravy.