Lyndey Milan’s Roast Turkey With Italian Sausage Seasoning And Vegetables

Roast Turkey With Italian Sausage Seasoning And Vegetables
Lyndey Milan

Food Editor

May 24, 2023

There’s nothing more exciting than preparing the roast turkey for a special family meal.

So you don’t want to get the timing wrong – and you want to prepare all the trimmings.

Here, Lyndey Milan shares her fabulous recipe for Roast Turkey with Italian Sausage Seasoning and Vegetables.

Serves 10

Preparation 40 minutes

Cooking 4¾ hours

1 x 4kg turkey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

50cm square muslin or ham skin or prosciutto or thinly-cut bacon

100g butter, melted if using muslin

2 cups (500ml) chicken stock (or more, see sauce)

Spicy Italian sausage seasoning

1 tablespoon (20ml) olive oil

1 medium (150g) onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

250g Italian sausages

360g ciabatta (Italian bread), chopped finely into coarse bread crumbs

1 cup (120g) coarsely chopped toasted pecans

½ cup (70g) dried cranberries (Craisins)

½ cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 egg, beaten lightly

2 teaspoons grated orange rind

Vegetables

10 medium (2kg) potatoes, halved

1.2kg pumpkin, peeled, cut into wedges

2 ½ tablespoons (50g) butter, softened

2 tablespoons (40ml) extra virgin olive oil

Peas, snow peas, sugar snap peas, blanched, to serve

Reduction sauce

Stock from under turkey – should be 2 cups, if not add chicken stock or water

1 cup (250ml) white wine

½ cup (125ml) cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon redcurrant jelly

  1. For Italian sausage seasoning, heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat, cook onion and garlic, stirring, until translucent but not brown. Remove to a large bowl. Squeeze the sausage meat from the casing into the bowl; add the remaining ingredients, season with salt and pepper and mix well. (Hands work best!)
  1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Discard the neck from the turkey (or use for stock). Rinse the turkey under cold water, pat dry inside and out with absorbent paper. Season inside the cavity with salt and pepper. Fill the neck cavity with the seasoning and secure the skin over the opening with toothpicks. Fill the large cavity with seasoning, tie the legs together with string, tuck wing tips under the turkey.
  1. Place the turkey on an oiled wire rack in a large flameproof baking dish. Dip the muslin in the melted butter and place it (or the ham skin or prosciutto or bacon) over the turkey. Add stock to baking dish, cover the dish with foil and roast for three hours before adding vegetables.
  1. For the vegetables, par-boil potatoes until almost tender. Drain, then return to hot saucepan and shake over heat for a minute or until the surface is rough. Alternatively, score with a fork. (This will help to make them crisp when roasted). Toss the potatoes and pumpkin with butter and oil in a heavy baking dish. Season with salt and pepper and add to the turkey in the oven.
  1. After turkey has been in the oven for a total of four hours, remove the foil and muslin or ham skin (leave prosciutto or bacon in place) and brush turkey with pan juices. Turn the vegetables to ensure even colouring. Increase the oven temperature to 200°C (180°C fan-forced) and roast turkey and vegetables for a further 30 minutes or until turkey is browned and cooked through.
  1. To test turkey, insert a metal skewer into the thickest part of the thigh. Remove the skewer and press the flesh – if the juices run clear the turkey is cooked. Alternatively, insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the turkey thigh without touching the bone – it should read 90°C. Test the seasoning as well – it should be at least 75°C. Remove the turkey from the dish and stand, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. If vegetables are not golden enough, leave in oven to brown further.
  1. Meanwhile, drain the pan juices from the baking dish into a large jug. Skim fat from the top and discard. Measure the juices and if they do not make two cups add additional chicken stock. Pour into a medium saucepan with wine, cream, mustard and redcurrant jelly. Bring to the boil, whisking to dissolve the jelly. Boil until reduced by one-third, strain and pour into a warm jug to serve.
  1. Sprinkle the turkey with sea salt flakes and serve with sauce and vegetables.

CARVING THE TURKEY

A carving set should consist of a non-serrated slicing knife at least 20cm long, and a fork.

Step 1: Holding turkey with carving fork, pry leg outward and find the joint, remove leg and thigh, in one piece by cutting through joint.

Step 2: Cut through joint between thigh and leg. If the turkey is large (over 6kg), slice the meat from the leg and thigh parallel to the bone.

Step 3: Remove the wing.

Step 4: Carve the breast into thin slices at a parallel angle to the breast bone. Repeat with the other side and remove the seasoning with a spoon.

Lyndey’s note: If using a frozen turkey, allow 2 days to thaw in the refrigerator. The seasoning can be made a day ahead and refrigerated separately. Fill turkey with seasoning close to cooking. To keep leftover turkey, remove seasoning from cavity and refrigerate separately. Be careful not to overstuff the turkey, any additional stuffing can be placed in a small baking tray and cooked for the last 20 – 30 minutes.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

By Lyndey Milan

Food Editor

Lyndey Milan, OAM, Australian home cook hero, combines a thirst for life and a sense of fun with a love of good food and sparkling shiraz. A familiar face on television and in print, she has been instrumental in changing the way Australians think and feel about food and wine for thirty years. Hospitality of the table is her catchphrase, as evidenced by her numerous television appearances, nine best-selling books and countless culinary appearances over the years as she maintains her position at the forefront of Australian cuisine. Since 2011 Lyndey has hosted eight television series including Lyndey Milan’s Taste of Australia which won Best Food TV at The Gourmand World Awards in 2016.. The accompanying book won BEST TV Chef Cookbook in the World in English & Best Culinary Travel book in Australia in The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards 2015. In the Best of the Best judged at the Frankfurt Book Fair she came 3rd overall in the last 20 years! She is an experienced traveller, hosting bespoke international tours and cruises. In 2014 Lyndey was awarded an OAM in the Australia Day Honours List for services to hospitality, the food and wine industry and the community and in 2012 was made Vittoria Legend in the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide Awards. In 2019 she was honoured as Legend of the Vine by Wine Communicators Australia. She is also the Food editor of TheCarousel.com. More at www.lyndeymilan.com

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