Peru Recheado de Natal (Portuguese Christmas Roast Turkey with Chestnut Stuffing)
- Prep
- 40 min
- Total
- 3 h 40 min
- servings
- 10
- Calories
- 540 kcal
- Difficulty
- Medium
If the night of December 24 belongs to salt cod and octopus, lunch on December 25 calls for a big roast in the middle of the table. Stuffed turkey has been a Portuguese family classic since the 19th century, when turkeys arrived alive in the cities on the eve of the holidays. The challenge is always the same: how to roast a whole turkey so the legs are cooked through without the breast drying out?
This recipe solves it with two techniques: herb butter under the breast skin, and roasting in two stages, covered and then uncovered. The stuffing is very Portuguese: cornbread, chestnuts, chouriço and reinette apple.
Recipe
Peru Recheado de Natal
Christmas turkey roasted with golden skin and a juicy breast thanks to garlic and herb butter under the skin, with a rich Portuguese stuffing of chestnuts, cornbread, chouriço, giblets and apple.
Ingredients
For the turkey and marinade
For the Portuguese chestnut and cornbread stuffing
Method
Seasoning the day before and butter under the skin
- 1The day before (December 24), mix the crushed garlic with the coarse salt, paprika, black pepper, orange juice, lemon juice, white wine and half the port. Rub the turkey inside and out with this vinha-d'alhos, add the bay leaves and marinate in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours, turning it halfway.
- 2On Christmas Day, take the turkey out of the fridge 1 hour before roasting and pat the skin dry with paper towels. Mix the softened butter with chopped thyme and rosemary, carefully lift the skin of the breast with your fingers (without tearing it) and spread half the butter directly on the breast meat and the rest over the skin.
Making the stuffing and roasting
- 3In a wide frying pan, heat the olive oil and fry the chouriço, the bacon and the finely chopped turkey giblets for 5 minutes. Add the onion and let it turn golden for 5 minutes more.
- 4Add the apple cubes, the halved chestnuts and the rest of the port. Fold in the crumbled cornbread, stir for 3 minutes until moist and fragrant, and take off the heat.
- 5Stuff the cavity of the turkey without packing it too tightly (so the hot air can circulate), close the opening with toothpicks or kitchen string and tie the legs. Put the leftover stuffing in a small clay dish alongside.
- 6Put the turkey in a deep roasting pan, pour over the strained marinade, cover loosely with foil and roast in an oven preheated to 180 °C (350 °F) for 2 hours.
- 7Remove the foil, baste the turkey with the pan juices after 20 minutes and then every 20 minutes, and roast uncovered for another 45 to 60 minutes, until the skin is very crisp and golden.
- 8Let the turkey rest out of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, loosely covered with foil, before carving at the table.
Keeping the turkey moist
The breast is very lean and cooks faster than the legs. The butter under the skin bastes it from the inside throughout the roasting. The foil for the first 2 hours keeps the steam of the wine and orange marinade around the bird; it comes off only for the last 45 to 60 minutes to brown the skin. And never carve it straight from the oven: during the 20-minute rest, the juices settle back into the meat.
Old Portuguese recipes gave the turkey brandy or port before slaughter, said to tenderize the meat. Today the port goes into the marinade and the stuffing instead.
Planning
Allow about 400 g of turkey (on the bone) per person: a 4 kg turkey serves 8 to 10, with leftovers. Thaw a frozen turkey in the fridge, allowing 24 hours for every 2 kg.
