Roast Turkey Adapted From The Supper Club

~ Tandy
Head straight on to the recipe for Roast Turkey ♥

This is not just the perfect dish for a summer Christmas, but can be served for any large family gathering. For my American friends I would love it if you tried this recipe for Thanksgiving and let me know what you think of roast turkey with a mushroom-risotto rice stuffing.

Roast Turkey With A Mushroom-Risotto Rice Stuffing - Extracted from The Supper Club by Phillippa Cheifitz (Struik Lifestyle)
Roast Turkey With A Mushroom-Risotto Rice Stuffing – Extracted from The Supper Club by Phillippa Cheifitz (Struik Lifestyle)

I have never cooked a turkey so when I saw the recipe for roast turkey with a mushroom-risotto rice stuffing in my copy of The Supper Club I knew I was going to volunteer this for our Christmas lunch. In years gone by, once we stopped going to Johannesburg for a family lunch, and the children stopped coming to us for a Christmas meal I did not bother to go overboard for just Dave and I. I used to go down to Woolworths on Christmas morning and pick up Italian deli meats and a variety of cheeses and we would have that to snack on when we got hungry. I always made us a treat of a breakfast, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce being my favourite choice. In 2014 we were invited to friend’s for Christmas Day and it was such a wonderful experience to be a part of a family gathering. Everyone contributed a part of the meal. So when we were invited back in 2015 I offered to bring the turkey as our offering to the table. I went to my local Woolworths to see if they would let me buy the turkey in advance to make sure I got one, and if they would keep it for me in their freezer as mine did not have enough space in it. They were more than accommodating and on the 22nd of December I went to collect the bird. I left it to defrost in my fridge until the 24th when I decided to get it cooked. I followed the recipe to the tee and discovered that I had far too much risotto left over. Not wanting anything to go to waste I put the rest into a bowl and we had it as a side dish. The turkey was perfect served cold and I might attempt this method when next doing a roast chicken as a meal for guests. I snapped a photograph of the turkey with my phone to show to the ladies at Woolworths who had made it possible for me to make this roast turkey to take with us. Lunch was fantastic. We were a ‘family’ of 9 and the afternoon crept into the evening without us even noticing that the time had gone by.

Roast Turkey With Rocket From My Garden
Roast Turkey With Rocket From My Garden

Print Recipe
5 from 4 votes

Roast Turkey

When you need to feed a party of 8 to 10 people look no further than presenting them with this amazingly moist roast turkey
Recipe Category: Turkey
All Rights Reserved: Adapted from The Supper Club page 128

Ingredients

for the stuffing

  • 25 g dried porcini mushrooms
  • 375 mls mushroom stock
  • 150 g risotto rice
  • 25 g butter
  • 15 mls olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, finely sliced
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
  • 250 g mixed mushrooms, quartered
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 5 g flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • 5 sprigs thyme, leaves picked

for the turkey

  • 1 x 4-5 kg turkey at room temperature, giblets removed and set aside
  • 15 g butter, melted
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks celery, sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • 15 sprigs thyme
  • 10 g parsley, roughly chopped
  • 500 mls chicken stock
  • 250 mls dry white wine
  • Rocket leaves, for garnishing

Method

for the stuffing

  • Place the dried mushrooms into a bowl
  • Pour the stock over the mushrooms
  • Leave to stand for 20 minutes
  • Strain, reserving the liquid
  • Place the rice and served liquid into a saucepan
  • Bring to the boil, reduce the heat slightly and cook at a rolling boil for 10 minutes
  • Place the butter and oil into a roasting pan
  • Over a medium temperature, heat until the butter has melted
  • Add the onions and celery and sauté until soft
  • Season lightly and add the dried and fresh mushrooms
  • Stir to mix and sauté until just cooked
  • Season to taste and then add the garlic, parsley, thyme and rice
  • Adjust the seasoning and set aside to cool

for the turkey

  • Open the packet with the giblets and remove the liver (see notes)
  • Chop up the remaining giblets
  • Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius
  • Spoon the stuffing into the cavity and fold the skin of the neck over the back
  • Bend the wing tips under the body
  • Tie the ends of the legs together
  • Place the turkey, breast side up, into the roasting pan
  • Brush with the melted butter and season generously
  • Roast uncovered for 30 minutes
  • Remove from the oven and add the onion, celery, garlic, thyme, parsley, neck and giblets
  • Add the stock and wine and cover with a lightly oiled piece of tin foil, making sure to tuck the edges in
  • Reduce the oven to 180° Celsius
  • Place back into the oven and roast for 2 hours, basting with the pan juices every 30 minutes
  • Remove the foil and roast for 30 minutes
  • Remove from the oven and leave to rest for at last 20 minutes
  • Serve at room temperature, garnished with rocket

Notes

You can add the liver to chicken livers next time you cook them, or cook it up and feed to your dogs like I did.
I served this the following day and it was still moist!

Click on the links for conversions and notes.

Roast Turkey
Roast Turkey

Disclosure: I was sent the book to review by Penguin Random House South Africa and this recipe formed part of the review and is published with permission. This post is in line with my blogging policy.

The Supper Club
The Supper Club

What I blogged February 15:

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Published by Tandy

I am passionate about using regional, seasonable and sustainable produce when I cook. I live in Gordons Bay with my husband and dogs. We visit new places locally and overseas as often as we can to experience the food of the area. Follow along on our adventures!

31 thoughts on “Roast Turkey Adapted From The Supper Club”

  2. Hi Tandy, your turkey looks perfectly cooked, love the way you stuffed it. Would love to see a picture of your garden some time, your rocket looks so healthy, I could always use a few tips:)

    Reply

  11. Did you really say you’ve never cooked a turkey before? You’ve shocked me! But here, we roast a turkey every other week because it’s lean, yummy and lasts for days! So easy. We eat turkey for Thanksgiving, Christmas and even Easter at times. Your turkey looks perfectly browned!

    Reply

    1. I have never had the occasion to do so Laura. And really what a great idea to do this as a family meal that lasts for a few days 🙂

      Reply
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