In our family, Christmas is always quite a big affair – probably due to the little American and British blood we have mixed into our South African family tree which makes Christmas dinner a little OTT (over the top). There is always a turkey and a gammon and a leg of lamb and although we have tried in the past to do a braai or something more ‘local ‘n lekker’, we’ve all agreed that it just isn’t Christmas without the trinity of roast meats. But having a turkey doesn’t mean you can’t add a South African touch to the traditional so I’ve created a bobotie stuffing which works really well with the strong flavour of the bird. Traditional Christmas with a bit of a local twist. Give it a try!
Turkey with bobotie stuffing
Serves 12-14
1 onion, finely chopped
3 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
1T olive oil
25g butter
180g white breadcrumbs or yellow rice
250g pork sausage meat (casings removed)
1T bobotie spice
1t turmeric
fruit chutney or apricot jam, to taste
salt and pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1T fresh parsley, chopped
Turkey
1 large turkey, excess fat removed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 carrots, chopped
4 sticks celery, chopped
2 onions, chopped
2 leeks, chopped
750ml chicken stock
To make the stuffing; sauté the onion and bacon in the oil until lightly browned. Melt the butter, add the breadcrumbs, sausage meat, spices, chutney and season well. Stir in the beaten egg and use as a stuffing.
To make the turkey; preheat the oven to 180˚C. Stuff the neck of the turkey and the cavity with the stuffing. Season well with salt and pepper. Place the vegetables and stock in the bottom of the oven tray. Place the turkey on a rack over the vegetables, cover with tinfoil and roast 30 minutes for each kg plus an additional 30 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and roast until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to rest before carving.
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