Northern Italian Stuffed Roast Turkey Food

TUSCAN TURKEY ROULADE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in a large roasting pan.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium (10-inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and fennel seeds and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, tossing occasionally, until the onion is tender. Add the garlic and cook for one minute only. Off the heat, add the sage and rosemary and set aside to cool.
• Meanwhile, spread the turkey breast out on a cutting board, skin-side down. Sprinkle the meat with 4 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. When the onion mixture is cool, spread it evenly on the meat. Distribute the grated butter on top. Place one layer of prosciutto on top of the butter to cover the meat completely. Starting at the left side of the turkey breast, roll the meat up jelly-roll style to make a compact cylindrical roulade, ending with the seam side down and the skin side up. Tie the roulade with kitchen twine at 1 1/2- to 2-inch intervals as tightly as possible to ensure that it will roast evenly. Slip whole sage leaves underneath each tie of the twine down the center of the roulade.
• Place the turkey roulade, seam side down, on the prepared rack in the roasting pan. Pat the skin dry with paper towels, brush the skin all over with 2 tablespoons olive oil, and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Pour the wine and 1 cup of water in the roasting pan (not over the turkey) and roast for between 1 1/2 and 1 3/4 hours, until the skin is golden brown and the internal temperature is 150 degrees F. (This depends on how large the turkey breast is.) Remove from the oven, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Slice in 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve warm with the pan juices.

STUFFED TURKEY BREAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine the sausage, prosciutto, chestnuts, olives and sage. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a small skillet and add a teaspoon of the stuffing. Saute until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust seasoning in the stuffing mix, if necessary.
• Place the turkey breast on the cutting board with skin side down. Flatten with your hands, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil to moisten. Spread stuffing on top and roll the turkey around the stuffing. Wrap kitchen twine around breast and tie tightly.
• Place turkey in a roasting pan, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until internal temperature of the turkey breast is 165 degrees F, about 1 hour or 12 to 15 minutes per pound.
• Let rest 10 minutes, then snip off kitchen twine. Slice the turkey and arrange decoratively on serving platter. Pour pan juices over the slices and serve.
• Special equipment: kitchen twine .

THANKSGIVING TURKEY WITH ITALIAN MEAT STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Place the ground beef into a skillet, and cook and stir the meat until browned and crumbly, breaking it up into chunks as it cooks, about 10 minutes. Drain grease. Place the ground beef into a large mixing bowl.
• Tear the bread into rough chunks, and place into a bowl; soak bread in water until moistened, and squeeze the water out of the bread. Crumble the wet bread into the bowl with the ground beef. Mix in the onion, celery, mushrooms, 4 cloves of garlic, flat-leaf parsley, Parmesan cheese, and egg until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and black pepper.
• Rinse the turkey, and pat dry with paper towels. Lightly stuff the turkey with the ground beef mixture, and place into a roasting pan with a lid. Rub the turkey with olive oil, squeeze lemons over the turkey, and sprinkle 2 more cloves of garlic, the garlic powder, and more salt and black pepper over the bird.
• Roast the turkey uncovered in the preheated oven until the skin is browned, about 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees C (175 degrees C), and cover the turkey with the lid. Continue roasting until the juices run clear and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reads 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 5 more hours. Baste occasionally. If the bottom of the roasting pan looks dry, pour in water.

NORTHERN ITALIAN STUFFED ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Mix chestnuts, olives, sausage meat and mushrooms. Stuff Turkey with this mixture and sew closed. Place the turkey in a roasting pan with the breast up.
• Lay pancetta strips across the breast. Season with salt and pepper and cover with olive oil. Roast in a slow oven, 300 F until tender (cook according to turkey directions).
• When the turkey is nearly done, remove the pancetta slices, sprinkle the turkey with flour and baste it with pan juices. Return to the oven for 10 minutes. Repeat the basting several times while the turkey cooks for 30 more minutes.

STUFFED ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Remove giblets from turkey. In a saucepan, bring water, giblets and neck to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour or until tender. Remove giblets with a slotted spoon; dice. Set aside 3 cups cooking liquid. In a bowl, combine egg substitute, bread crumbs, onions, celery, giblets, poultry seasoning, salt, sage and pepper. Add reserved cooking liquid; mix well. Just before baking, loosely stuff turkey with about 8 cups stuffing. Place remaining stuffing in a greased 2-qt. baking dish; refrigerate. Skewer turkey openings; tie drumsticks together. Place on a rack in a roasting pan. Brush with butter; sprinkle with paprika., Bake uncovered, at 325° for 4-1/2 to 5-1/2 hours or until a thermometer reads 180° for turkey and 165° for stuffing, basting every 30 minutes (cover loosely with foil if turkey browns too quickly). Bake additional stuffing for 35-40 minutes. , For gravy, dissolve bouillon in water. In a saucepan, whisk flour and 1/4 cup pan drippings until smooth. Gradually add bouillon mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Serve with turkey and stuffing.

TURKEY BREAST STUFFED WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MARSALA-STEEPED CRANBERRIES

Steps:

• Put the cranberries and Marsala into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then take off the heat and leave to one side.
• Put the oil into a large frying pan or similar heavy pan, and fry the shallots for a minute or so, then add the spices and chopped sage, turning them in the soft shallots.
• Squeeze the sausage meat out of its skins, add to the pan, and break it up-using a wooden fork and spatula for ease-turning it in the hot pan until it loses its pinkness. This will take about 5 minutes.
• Take the frying pan off the heat and turn the contents into a large bowl, mixing in the steeped cranberries and any Marsala clinging to them, and leave to cool. You can cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for up to 2 days at this stage. When you are ready to stuff the turkey breast, take the bowl of sausage meat out of the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Uncover the bowl of sausage meat, add the eggs, Parmesan, and bread crumbs and-I use my hands for this-mix well. Lay the butterflied turkey joint out in front of you. It really does look like a butterfly, though admittedly a fleshy one. Spread the stuffing out first in the slight cavity in the center of the butterfly and then outward onto the wings though not going right up to the edge (or it will squidge out when cooking) but as evenly as possible over the whole joint.
• Carefully, in one swift but steady movement, fold one "wing" over the other to close the joint, and then sit the turkey in a large roasting pan, breast bone (or where the breast bone would be) on top as it would look were it the whole bird, with the pointier bit farthest away from you. Thread 2 skewers through the base-i.e., the widest part that is nearer you-to keep it closed, and smear it all over with the duck or goose fat.
• Roast the turkey breast for 2-2 1/2 hours, then check it is cooked with a turkey or meat thermometer. When cooked, it should read 165°F in the center. (If you're leaving it to rest, as you should, or to cool, you could take it out at 160°F-it will retain heat and continue to cook for a short while once out of the oven.)
• Flex your muscles, then lift out onto a cutting board, and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes. Or leave to get cold if you are eating it as part of a cook-ahead buffet.
• Cut through the whole joint in wide slices right across; they will need to be quite thick, at least 1/2 inch, maybe 1 inch, to keep the stuffing intact within the slice.
• As you place it on table or sideboard, dot around it the condiments of your choice: I revert to Christmas in Italy here by putting a lusciously extravagant pot or two of Italian mostarda di Cremona on the table alongside: this is a hot and sweet preserve of mustardy candied fruits that gleam beautifully and taste both festive and fabulous.

CLASSIC ROAST TURKEY WITH HERBED STUFFING AND OLD-FASHIONED GRAVY

Steps:

• Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 325°F. Butter 8-inch square baking dish or 2-quart casserole. Lightly brush roasting rack with vegetable oil and place in roasting pan.
• Remove plastic or paper packet of giblets from turkey (usually in small cavity). Remove from packaging and rinse; reserve gizzard and heart; discard floppy, dark purple liver. Remove neck from large cavity. Remove from packaging, rinse, and reserve. Using tweezers or needlenose pliers, remove any feathers and quills still attached to skin (kosher turkeys tend to require this more than others). Pull off and reserve any visible pale yellow knobs of fat from either side of tail (not found on all birds).
• Rinse turkey inside and out with cold water and pat dry. Loosely fill small (neck) cavity with stuffing. Fold neck skin under body and fasten with metal skewer. Loosely fill large body cavity with stuffing. Transfer remaining stuffing to buttered dish and drizzle with 1/4 cup stock. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Transfer turkey, breast-side up, to rack in roasting pan. Tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks loosely together with kitchen string. Rub turkey all over with softened butter and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Tightly cover breast area with foil, leaving wings, thighs, and drumsticks exposed.
• Transfer gizzard, heart, neck, and reserved turkey fat to roasting pan around rack. Pour 2 cups stock into pan.
• Roast turkey 45 minutes. Baste with pan juices (lift up foil to reach breast area) and continue roasting, basting every 45 minutes, 1 1/2 hours more (2 1/4 hours total). Baste again and, if pan juices have evaporated into glaze, add 1 cup stock to pan. Roast another 45 minutes (3 hours total). Remove foil from breast area, baste, and add stock if necessary, until instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of thigh (close to but not touching bone) registers 180°F, about 1 hour more (4 hours total).
• Insert instant-read thermometer into center of stuffing in body cavity. If thermometer does not read 165°F, transfer stuffing to microwave-safe baking dish and microwave on high until 165°F, about 3 minutes for 10 degrees. Cover and keep warm. Using turkey holders (or by inserting large metal serving spoon into body cavity), transfer turkey to large serving platter. Let stand 30 minutes before carving.
• Meanwhile, bake extra stuffing and make gravy: Raise oven temperature to 350°F. Remove giblets and neck from roasting pan and discard. Pour pan juices into measuring cup or gravy separator. Let stand until fat rises to top, 1 to 2 minutes, then skim off and reserve fat or, if using separator, carefully pour juices into measuring cup, reserving fat left in separator.
• Transfer foil-covered dish of extra stuffing to oven and bake 10 minutes. Meanwhile, add enough remaining stock to pan juices to total 4 cups. Measure turkey fat, adding melted butter if necessary to total 6 tablespoons. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners on moderate heat and add fat. Whisk in flour, scraping up browned bits on bottom of pan, then cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Whisk in pan juice-stock mixture and bring to a boil, whisking often. Reduce heat to moderately low and simmer, whisking occasionally, until gravy thickens, about 5 minutes. Whisk in remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and keep warm. (Gravy can be kept warm over very low heat, covered, up to 20 minutes. If it thickens, thin with additional stock before serving. If skin forms on top, whisk well to dissolve.)
• When extra stuffing has baked 10 minutes, remove foil and bake, uncovered, until heated through, about 10 minutes. Pour gravy through fine-mesh sieve into large bowl, then transfer to gravy boat. Carve turkey and serve gravy and stuffing alongside.
• Test-Kitchen Tips:
• •To combat dryness, most frozen turkeys and some fresh are injected with a saline solution. This is not a good thing, though: Injected birds generally lack flavor and can have a mushy texture. For this reason, we recommend buying a fresh turkey and checking the label to be sure there aren't any additives. (Look for the words "all natural.") Don't be too concerned, though, with the many other terms that can be applied to turkeys, such as free-range, organic, or heritage. All can be excellent.
• •When buying a fresh bird, be sure to purchase it no more than two days before Thanksgiving. If you must get a frozen bird, defrost it in the refrigerator in a pan to catch drips, allowing a full 24 hours for each 5 pounds.
• •Warm, moist stuffing is an optimal environment for bacteria such as salmonella or E. coli to multiply, so it's important to follow safe procedures. Be sure to make the stuffing at the last minute so it can go into the bird warm. This helps it move above the "danger zone" (the optimal temperature range for bacteria growth) more quickly during roasting. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the middle of the stuffing to make sure it's 165°F, the temperature at which bacteria will be killed. If it's not 165°F, scoop it out of the cavity and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •More stuffing tips: Be sure not to overpack the cavities, as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Loosely fill the turkey, then spread the extra in a casserole dish (no more than 2 inches deep) and bake it after the turkey comes out (be sure to refrigerate it until then to impede bacteria growth). Drizzle the portion in the casserole dish with extra stock to make up for the juices it won't get from the turkey. If you want the stuffing that's cooked inside the turkey to be extra-moist (as opposed to having a crisp crust where it's exposed), cover the exposed portion with a small piece of aluminum foil.
• •Opinions vary on whether or not to stuff the bird-some people think it can cause uneven cooking. If you prefer not to stuff your bird, fill the cavities with a chopped vegetable and herb mixture that will impart its flavor to the meat and pan juices: Chop 1 onion, 1 celery rib with leaves, 1 carrot, and 3 tablespoons fresh parsley. Mix this with 1 teaspoon each dried rosemary, sage, and thyme. Sprinkle the cavities with salt and freshly ground black pepper and place the mixture inside. An unstuffed bird will take about 15 minutes to a half hour less to cook than a stuffed bird. When the turkey is cooked, tilt it to allow any juices that have collected in the cavity to drain into the pan. Do not serve the vegetable mixture, as it may not have cooked to a safe temperature.
• •This recipe can easily be scaled up to serve more people. Estimate about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds per person. Cooking times (for a stuffed bird, cooked at 325°F to an internal temperature of 180°F) will be as follows: 8 to 12 pounds: 3 to 3 1/2 hours 12 to 14 pounds: 3 1/2 to 4 hours 14 to 18 pounds: 4 to 4 1/4 hours 18 to 20 pounds: 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours 20 to 24 pounds: 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
• •Some experts prefer to cook their turkeys to an internal temperature of 170°F (rather than 180°F, as in this recipe). If you don't mind having the meat slightly pink, this is perfectly safe and makes it more moist. However, Rick Rodgers, who created this recipe, believes that the dark meat in particular does not achieve its optimum flavor and texture until it reaches 180°F. If you choose to stuff your turkey and cook it to only 170°F, its stuffing will almost definitely not reach the safe temperature of 165°F. When you remove the turkey from the oven, be sure to check the temperature in the center of the stuffing, and if necessary remove it and microwave it as directed in the recipe.
• •Letting the turkey stand for half an hour after it comes out of the oven is an essential part of the roasting process. When meat roasts, its juices move to the outer edge of the flesh. Letting it rest gives the juices time to redistribute, making for a moister turkey. An added bonus: The resting time provides an excellent window of opportunity to make the gravy and reheat the side dishes. There's no need to cover the bird-it'll stay warm enough, and covering it would only soften the crispy skin.

TRADITIONAL ROAST STUFFED TURKEY

Steps:

• Tear the bread into pieces, and place back into the bags overnight.
• Dice the onion, and leave covered on the counter.
• The next day, saute the diced onion in margarine, stir in sage and chicken broth.
• Place the bread pieces in a large mixing bowl, pour most of the onion mixture onto the bread and stir.
• The stuffing has enough moisture when you can squeeze a handful, and when opening your hand, the stuffing stays in a loose ball. If it falls apart, add a little more onion mixture.
• If it is soggy and squeezes together tightly, add a little more bread pieces.
• If the bird has skin which is binding it's legs together, cut this.
• Rinse the bird, remove and discard heart, neck etc. and pat the insides to remove some of the moisture.
• Push the stuffing into the carcass,until you cant' get anymore in, overstuffing the bird as seen in the picture. The tighter you push it in, the moister the stuffing will be.
• Stuff the neck cavity.
• If you have leftover stuffing, that is a good thing. Place it in a sprayed crock pot and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
• Wrap the legs and wings with foil, they will cook quickly.
• Put a piece of loose foil over the entire bird.
• Roast at 325°F for about 3 hours.
• Remove all of the foil, setting it aside and roast for another hour.
• If the turkey does not have a pop up timer, use a meat thermometer.
• When done, set the turkey out on the counter and cover loosely with the foil, let it stand 20 minutes for a moist bird.
• Remove the stuffing from the bird and mix it in with the crock pot stuffing.
• Carve the turkey and serve on a platter.
• Enjoy this time honored tradition with your loved ones.
• You may use more or less sage, according to your tastes.