Creamy lemon, pancetta & rosemary turkey

Creamy lemon, pancetta & rosemary turkey

For a perfectly moist and succulent turkey, follow Emma Lewis's tips for a creamy mascarpone stuffing

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 3 hrs - 3 hrs 45 mins

Method

  1. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Wash the turkey and pat dry. Strip the leaves from half the rosemary and thyme stalks and finely chop. In a bowl, combine the lemon zest, chopped herbs, pancetta and mascarpone. Season well.
  2. Halve the zested lemons and stuff into the cavity, along with the remaining herb sprigs. Use your hand to loosen the skin lying over the breast of the turkey, to create a pocket. Push the mascarpone mixture under the breast skin to create a thick, even layer.
  3. Put the onion slices into a large, flameproof roasting tin, place the turkey on top and cover loosely with foil. Cook for 3-3¾ hrs, until the juices of the bird run clear. Baste every 30 mins and uncover for the last 30 mins if needed, to brown the bird. When cooked, take the turkey from the oven, remove from the tin and leave to rest on a platter, covered loosely with foil, for 30 mins.
  4. To make the gravy, pour away any excess fat from the roasting tin and discard the onion slices. Set the tin over a medium heat, then sprinkle over the flour. Stir through and cook for 2 mins. Slowly whisk in the wine and stock. Bring to a boil, scraping the bits from the bottom, then simmer over a low heat for 15 mins. Serve the gravy with the turkey.
Try

Emma says...

When you carve into the breast you get a lovely layer of mascarpone mix, which subtly flavours the meat and keeps the breast moist.

Tip

If the turkey is on the dry side, keep on carving, then take the slices back to the kitchen and drizzle with a little hot chicken stock. If it's underdone, cut into the joints and pop it back in the oven.

Per serving

618 kcalories, protein 80.0g, carbohydrate 3.0g, fat 31.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 0.0g, salt 1.17 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2005.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo dinie

    13 December 2007

    dinie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Hello! Ive made this dish already once and I'm going to make it this year again! I didn't change a thing and all the ingredients worked very well together. The dish was fresh(lemon), hearty (pancetta) and the bird was moist. Due to the fact that our local village shop ran out of mascarpone, I used creme fraiche. But for this year I have the mascarpone already in the fridge! Turkey is in our country (The Netherlands) not as common available as in yours, but I find it worth the trouble ordering one. Christmas greetings from the dutch counrtyside, Dinie Kant

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  • Binder photo Jill ross

    16 January 2008

    Jill ross commented on this recipe

    This was voted the best Christmas turkey I have ever cooked by the whole family. Will certainly do it again next year.

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  • Binder photo PsyberPixie

    03 November 2008

    PsyberPixie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made a similar recipe to this quite a few years ago might even be the same recipe. I loved it im going to make this again :-)

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  • Binder photo carol

    10 December 2008

    carol commented on this recipe

    Can anyone make sense of recipe instruction number 2? It says 'strip the leaves from half the bowl' Does it mean to say strip the leaves from half of the herb thyme and rosemary?

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  • Binder photo Tora

    13 January 2009

    Tora rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    First time ever cooking turkey and it came out great. Carol, I read it as strip half the thyme and rosemary leafs and that worked fine.

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  • Binder photo peacock

    30 January 2009

    peacock rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was quite nice but I'll use another recipe for the turkey next Christmas.

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  • Binder photo Chris from Aike

    23 November 2010

    Chris from Aike rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Sorry but this is going to be one of those reviews where you end up thinking "they changed so many ingredients that it was almost a different recipe"! However, I replaced the turkey with a chicken and pancetta with bacon and scaled down the other ingredients but it was still absolutely delicious. The family didn't know it should have been turkey but still suggested using the recipe for our Christmas turkey so I guess that is a vote of confidence.

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  • Binder photo wtfcoriander

    27 February 2011

    wtfcoriander rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this for Christmas 2010 and it was amazing. I left it a little late and by the time it was ready it was late and everyone was quite full from all the other dishes, however it was devoured by all. The turkey was really moist. Didn't bother with the gravy. Will definitely make again.

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  • Binder photo janet

    11 December 2011

    janet rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is an amazing recipe, the turkey is wonderfully moist and the lemon permeates subtly through the meat. Have made this for the past 4 years but this year I am going to try the Italian turkey recipe in the 2011 magazine as a lot of the ingredients are the same. Hope its as good!

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  • Binder photo Byecna

    14 March 2012

    Byecna rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is a great recipe.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 8 - 10

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 25 mins

Cook time

Cook 3 hrs - 3 hrs 45 mins

The star of the show

Ingredients

FOR THE GRAVY

  • 1 tbsp flour
  • 100ml white wine
  • 600ml turkey or chicken stock
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Per serving

618 kcalories, protein 80.0g, carbohydrate 3.0g, fat 31.0 g, saturated fat 13.0g, fibre 0.0g, salt 1.17 g

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