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Roast Turkey with Chestnut and Celery Stuffing

Allow 350-450g per person when buying your turkey, if it is below 4.5kg. With a bigger bird, allow 200-350g per person. Bronze-feathered turkeys don't grow as large as white-feathered ones. Weigh your bird after it has been stuffed. Calculate your cooking times by allowing 45 minutes per kg, plus a final 30 minutes at 180°C/gas mark 4.

Preparation time: 60 minutes
Cooking time: 210 minutes
Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Serves: 8 - 10

Ingredients

Chestnut and Celery Stuffing
115g butter
3 medium onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
6 sticks celery, finely diced
1 lemon, zest finely grated
400g cooked, peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped
4 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp chopped lemon thyme
400g fine white breadcrumbs
3 medium eggs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Turkey
115g softened butter
½ lemon, juiced
3.6kg bronze-feathered turkey
375g streaky bacon, finely sliced

Method

Melt the butter for the stuffing in a frying pan and gently fry the onion, garlic and celery until soft. Remove from the heat and mix in the lemon zest, chestnuts, parsley, thyme and breadcrumbs, followed by the eggs. Season to taste and leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
Loosen the turkey's skin with your hands and pack the cold stuffing into the neck end, pushing it up between the flesh and the skin towards the breast. Don't pack it too tightly or it will burst as it cooks. Secure the neck flap under the turkey's back with cocktail sticks. Don't place any stuffing into the bird's cavity (stuffing placed here may not reach a sufficiently high temperature to destroy harmful bacteria).
Line a bread tin with buttered foil and press in excess stuffing. Put in the oven 50 minutes before you're ready to serve.
Put two large sheets of foil across a roasting tray, one lengthways, one widthways. Lay the turkey on its back on the foil and rub with lemon juice. Season and rub all over with the butter. Make sure the thigh bones and breast are well covered. Cover the breast and legs with the bacon.
Loosely shape the foil into a baggy parcel so that the bird has lots of air space around its breast. Crimp together the foil edges to seal it in.
Roast for 2 hours, 40 minutes. Remove the bird from the oven. Fold back the foil from the top and sides of the turkey. Remove the bacon, baste the turkey and return to the oven for 30 minutes to brown. Baste regularly. Check it is cooked by piercing its thigh with a skewer - the juices should run clear.
Remove the bird from the oven and transfer to a warm serving dish. Wrap in two layers of foil and leave to rest while you finish preparing the meal. Serve with gravy and your accompaniments.