ingredients
serves 6
1 turkey (about 10 pound)
1 pound fresh chestnuts or 1 can (10 ounce) whole chestnuts in water
1/2 pound pie pork or veal, minced
6 ounce fatty bacon, minced
salt and pepper
pinch of ground nutmeg
1 pound fatty bacon, fairly thickly sliced
1 pound chipolata sausages
1 level tablespoon All purpose flour
1 1/2 cups stock made from the giblets
watercress to garnish
method
1. Preheat oven to moderately hot, 200°C (400°F).
2. Weigh the bird and calculate the cooking time by allowing 20 minutes to the pound plus an extra 20 minutes.
3. If using fresh chestnuts, snip the top of each chestnut with a pair of scissors then place them in a pan of water.
4. Bring the water to the boil and boil the chestnuts for 2 minutes, then remove them from the heat.
5. Remove the outer and inner shells, keeping the chestnuts as whole as possible and place them in a mixing bowl. (Drain the canned chestnuts.)
6. Add the minced pork or veal and bacon with plenty of seasoning and the ground nutmeg.
7. Bind the ingredients together to form a stuffing.
8. Starting at the neck end work the stuffing very carefully in between the skin and the breast to about halfway along the breast.
9. Do not split the skin if possible or the stuffing will burst out during cooking. Push the stuffing under the breast skin, making sure the shape of the bird is retained. The stuffing helps to keep the breast moist as well as giving it a good flavour.
10. Tuck the loose skin which covered the neck under the wings to help keep the stuffing in place.
11. Put the turkey in a roasting tin and cover it completely with the rashers of fatty bacon starting at the legs, then cover the tin with foil.
12. Roast the bird in the centre of the oven for 1 hour then reduce the heat to moderate, 180°C (350°F), for the rest of the cooking time. If the bird is really large, that is above 9 kilos or 18 lb, reduce the heat after the first hour to cool, 150°C (300°F) or gas 2.
13. Baste the bird after the first hour.
14. Half an hour before the end of the cooking time remove the foil and bacon so the skin can brown. Place pricked sausages around the turkey.
15. Transfer the cooked turkey to a plate and surround with the sausages. Leave in a warm place while making the gravy.
16. Drain almost all the fat from the tin leaving about 1 tablespoon.
17. Stir in the flour then gradually blend in the stock.
18. Place the tin over the heat, and stirring all the time, bring the gravy to the boil.
19. Check it for seasoning before pouring it into a gravy boat.
20. Serve the turkey garnished with watercress.
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