Italian-style turkey crown with roast garlic & pancetta & lemon ciabatta stuffing

Italian-style turkey crown with roast garlic & pancetta & lemon ciabatta stuffing

With no bones to contend with, a turkey crown is easier to carve than a whole bird and the pancetta slices keep the roasted meat succulent

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

SERVES 6 with leftovers

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 35 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 50 mins - 2 hrs

Plus resting
Freezable

FREEZE uncooked stuffing only

Method

  1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Rinse the turkey then pat dry with kitchen paper. Weigh it to calculate the cooking time, allowing 20 mins per kg, plus 70 mins (or 90 mins when roasting a crown over 4kg). Sit the turkey on a board, very lightly rub all over with olive oil and season with pepper. Lay the pancetta or streaky bacon over the top of the turkey, slightly overlapping to cover it. Tuck the slices under the bird to secure at the bottom. Insert small rosemary sprigs haphazardly between the slices. Season with pepper. Tie the crown across in 2-3 places with butcher's string, to hold the shape together. Put the onion wedges in the middle of a large roasting tin and sit the crown on top. Cover the turkey with a loose tent of foil, then roast following your calculated time.
  2. Make the stuffing. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan. Tip in the onions and garlic, and fry for 5-8 mins until softened and starting to turn golden. Push the onions to one side of the pan, then add the pine nuts and continue to fry for 1 min more, stirring the nuts until golden. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Stir in the remaining oil, all but a small handful of the Parmesan and the remaining stuffing ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Loosely spoon stuffing mixture (don't pack it down) into an oiled ovenproof dish, drizzle with a little extra olive oil, sprinkle with remaining Parmesan, then lay a sheet of baking parchment on top. Set aside. Can be made 1 day ahead and chilled.
  3. Thirty mins before the end of the cooking time, remove the turkey and increase oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. If you are roasting potatoes put them in now. Roast the garlic. Remove the foil, place the garlic halves and lemon wedges around the turkey, then baste them and the turkey with the cooking juices. Return the tin to the oven and continue to roast for the final 30 mins. To test if cooked, pierce the fattest part of the crown with a skewer - the juices should run clear, not pink. If they are pink, continue to roast, checking at 10 min intervals.
  4. Remove the turkey, garlic and lemon from the oven, transfer to a warm serving platter and rest, covered loosely with foil, for 30 mins before carving. Meanwhile, increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the stuffing in the oven and bake for 20 mins, then remove the paper and bake for a further 5 mins until the stuffing is golden.
  5. Make the gravy. Pour off any excess fat from the roasting tin but leave the juices and onions. Stir all the sticky bits from the bottom of the tin into the juices. Set tin over a medium heat, add the flour and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 mins. Pour in the Marsala and simmer for 2 mins. Pour in the stock, bring to the boil, then simmer for 5-10 mins or until reduced to your liking. Season with pepper if needed. Strain the gravy into a pan, warm through, then pour into a jug. Serve the turkey garnished with rosemary sprigs, surrounded with the roasted garlic and lemon, and accompanied by the gravy and stuffing.

PER SERVING

933 kcalories, protein 94.0g, carbohydrate 39.0g, fat 42.0 g, saturated fat 11.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 2.16 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2011.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo Valkyr

    25 December 2011

    Valkyr commented on this recipe

    Cooking this for Christmas Dinner right now. It's been in for the full 2hrs so far and 2/3rds of it is still pink... Small(ish) set back but looks like it will turn out very nice when cooked.

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  • Binder photo Colleen

    25 December 2011

    Colleen rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Fantastic flavour, succulent bird, and the stuffing is great! Just had this for Christmas dinner and looking forward to leftovers tomorrow :D

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  • Binder photo jazzcat

    26 December 2011

    jazzcat commented on this recipe

    excellent recipe -cooked it for Christmas dinner - everyone loved it. The stuffing was very good and a change from the usual. It took a bit longer to cook than the recipe said - turned the oven up a bit and it was fine.

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  • Binder photo Esde

    26 December 2011

    Esde commented on this recipe

    Delicious recipe - very easy to follow and found instructions true. Stuffing was a tasty alternative to the more traditional we're used to. Served it up with marmalade carrots, brussels with shallots and parmesan parsnips from GF Dec 2011 - all went down a treat!

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  • Binder photo janet

    27 December 2011

    janet rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Absolutely a winning recipe will do this again next year, the stuffing was amazing, did the polenta parsnips as well also good. Served with star anise carrot recipe from last year which is now a staple!

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  • Binder photo Zyng

    27 December 2011

    Zyng rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this for Christmas day lunch. Very easy and straightforward to prepare. The stuffing is delicious, very fresh tasting. I prepared the turkey the day before cooking till stage 2 (so with last 30 minutes cooking to go) and finished it off on Christmas day, needing to cook it only for the final 30 minutes, uncovered. I also popped in the stuffing alongside it on Christmas day, though I prepared it the day before, as suggested in the recipe. The only thing I didn't have time for was the gravy as to make it I would have had to make my guests wait. I found that the cooking times indicated (as calculated following instructions, that is) were correct. Turkey meat does remain pinkish, what's important is that there is no pink liquid.

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  • Binder photo Starmix

    27 December 2011

    Starmix commented on this recipe

    My brother cooked this for Xmas dinner. It was superb, best turkey ever, a free-range Norfolk bronze, so moist and tender! Stuffing was delicious too, he made it gluten-free by adding gluten free sausage meat, no ciabatta. Highly recommend this recipe.

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  • Binder photo Starmix

    27 December 2011

    Starmix rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Frantic Flapjack

    17 January 2012

    Frantic Flapjack rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this for Christmas lunch. The stuffing was fabulous - the best I've ever tasted. The turkey wasn't cooked in the given time. Needed an extra half hour.

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  • Binder photo Collinszzz

    02 January 2013

    Collinszzz rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Followed this turkey recipe for Christmas, minus the stuffing as my husband traditionally makes his own. The turkey crown was absolutely delicious, very moist and the inclusion of lemon and rosemary smelt wonderful whilst it was cooking. I will definitely use this again and we will try the stuffing too.

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  • Binder photo janaskar

    03 January 2013

    janaskar rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Very easy and delicious! Turkey was very moist, gravy wonderful and loved by the kids who prefer Bisto. The stuffing was a great hit too and the kids wanted that more than the turkey for leftovers. Will definitely make again.

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  • Binder photo FrenchFoodie

    20 January 2013

    FrenchFoodie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    My first roast turkey ever and it was a real success. The stuffing was delicious. I got a bit muddled up reading the recipe for the stuffing and ended up just throwing everything together in the blender and that worked perfectly well.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

SERVES 6 with leftovers

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 35 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 50 mins - 2 hrs

Plus resting
Freezable

FREEZE uncooked stuffing only

Ingredients

FOR THE STUFFING

FOR THE GARLIC

FOR THE GRAVY

  • 4 tsp plain flour
  • 175ml medium-sweet Marsala
  • 850ml turkey or chicken stock
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PER SERVING

933 kcalories, protein 94.0g, carbohydrate 39.0g, fat 42.0 g, saturated fat 11.0g, fibre 3.0g, sugar 10.0g, salt 2.16 g

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