What’s great about this recipe is the fact it only takes around two hours and 30 minutes to cook (based on a 5kg bird), so it can be prepared and cooked in good time
Gordon Ramsay has revealed his go-to recipe for a moist turkey.
The celebrity chef has shared an ‘easy-to-follow’ recipe that ensures the meat remains moist, thanks to his handy hack. For this recipe, Gordon uses a special ‘flavoured butter’ that is rubbed under the turkey’s skin, helping to ensure that the meat remains moist during cooking.
What’s great about this recipe is the fact that it only takes two hours and 30 minutes to cook (based on a 5kg bird), so it can be prepared and cooked nice and quickly. Gordon explains there’s “no need to worry” about your turkey being bland and dry with this easy recipe. He explains: “This is my favourite way to roast turkey – with a savoury butter under the skin to keep the breast meat moist and flavourful.”
It’s also a great option if you’d prefer to prep your turkey the night before, as all you need to do is cover the turkey in a layer of tin foil once it’s been buttered and stuffed. You can then store it in the fridge and it’ll be ready to shove in the oven on Christmas morning.
Ingredients:
- 1 free-range turkey (ideally Norfolk Black or Bronze), about 5–5.5kg
- 2 onions, peeled and halved
- 1 lemon, halved
- 1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
- 6 bay leaves
- olive oil, to drizzle
- 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
For the lemon, parsley and garlic butter:
- 375g butter, at room temperature
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- finely grated zest and juice of 2 small lemons
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- small bunch of flat leaf parsley, leaves only, chopped
How to prepare the turkey:
Start by pre-heating the oven to 220C (200C fan Gas 7). While the oven warms up, start prepping the herb butter. To do this, put the butter into a large bowl and add salt and pepper, then add olive oil, and mix together. Once the ingredients are combined, add the lemon zest and juice, along with the garlic and parsley.
Next, remove the giblets from the turkey and stuff with onions, lemon, garlic, and 2 bay leaves. Then use your hands to loosen the skin on the bird’s breast from each end and legs, so that you can stuff the butter underneath it. Put half of the butter mixture under the skin and then massage the butter into the meat over the skin, so that the whole turkey is evenly covered. Then, add the remaining bay leaves under the skin of the turkey breasts.
Put the turkey into a roasting tray, with the breasts facing upwards, and spread the rest of the butter across the skin. You can then season with salt and pepper and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil.
Next, put the turkey in the over for 10-15 minutes, then remove the tray and baste the meat with the pan juices and add bacon rashers over the breast to keep the bird moist. Then, baste the meat again and lower the setting to 180C (160C fan, Gas 4) and cook for two and a half hours (adding 30 minutes per kg of weight). Don’t forget to baste throughout cooking.
