The best roasted turkey recipe!

“A foolproof and simple recipe for the perfect roasted turkey dinner centrepiece this festive season! And it’s free-range turkey too!” – SASHA CONLAN Founder of Sasha’s Fine Food

This roasted turkey recipe serves 16.

Ingredients

• 1 free-range turkey, around 4.5 to 5kg
• 1 onion, peeled and quartered
• 1 lemon, quartered
• 1 apple, quartered
• 25g fresh rosemary
• 25g fresh thyme
• 25g fresh sage For the herb butter
• 225g unsalted butter, softened
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh herbs, chopped

Instructions

#1 If the turkey is frozen, thaw in the fridge (allow 12 hours per kilo of turkey).

#2 Remove the thawed free-range turkey from the fridge 1 hour before roasting to let it come to room temperature.

#3 Adjust your oven rack so the turkey will sit in the centre of the oven. Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius.

#4 Make the herb butter by combining room temperature butter, minced garlic, salt, pepper, one tablespoon each of fresh chopped rosemary and thyme, and half a tablespoon of fresh chopped sage. Retain leftover herbs.

#5 Remove the free-range turkey from packaging and remove the neck and giblets from the bird’s cavity. (Reserve them for gravy, if you want, or discard them). Pat the turkey very dry with paper towels.

#6 Season the cavity with salt and pepper, and stuff it with the quartered lemon, onion and apple and leftover herbs.

#7 Use your fingers to loosen and lift the skin above the breasts (on top of the turkey) and smooth a few tablespoons of the herb butter underneath.

#8 Tuck the wings of the turkey underneath the turkey and set the turkey on a roasting rack inside a roasting pan.

#9 Microwave the remaining herb butter mixture for 30 seconds to soften. Use a basting brush to brush it all over the outside of the turkey, legs and wings.

#10 Roast the turkey at 160 degrees for about 13 to 15 minutes per 500g, or until internal temperature (inserted in middle of thigh and breast) reaches about 70 degrees Celsius.

#11 Check the turkey about halfway through cooking, and once the skin gets golden brown, cover the top with tin foil to protect the breast meat from overcooking. Alternatively, you could start cooking the turkey with it tented in foil, then during the last hour or so of cooking take the foil off to let the turkey brown.

#12 Allow the roasted turkey to rest for 20 to 30 minutes before carving.

#13 Reserve any drippings and juice remaining in your roasting pan to make turkey gravy.

There you have it the best roasted turkey recipe for this festive season!

Recipe: Tastes Better From Scratch

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Need to buy a turkey in Singapore this festive season? Or want more information on Christmas dinners?

This article first appeared in the November 2022 edition of Expat Living. You can purchase the latest issue or subscribe, so you never miss a copy!

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