Most Italian stuffed bird recipes call for a boned bird. This one doesn't, and the filling, mostly apples and prunes, goes beautifully with the pancetta that adds savor to the breast meat. A very enjoyable stuffed turkey, which will be perfect in a holiday meal. You'll need
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 3 hours,
Ingredients:
- A small turkey, weighing about 7 pounds (3 1/3 k)
- 8 apples, ideally annurca, though any cooking apple will do
- 1/2 pound (200 g) pitted prunes
- 1 pint (500 ml) dry white wine
- 1/2 pound finely sliced pancetta (lightly smoked and sugared bacon will also work if need be)
- An onion, minced
- 4 slices white bread, crumbled
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
- 2 eggs
- The leaves of 3 8-inch (20 cm) sprigs fresh rosemary, and one sprig fresh sage (10-12 leaves), minced
- A bay leaf, crumbled
- A clove of garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup (50 g) unsalted butter
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Peel, core, and dice 4 of the apples and soak them and the prunes in the wine for an hour. Drain them, and combine them with the bread, onion, cheese, eggs, some of the minced rosemary and sage (as much as you like), the crumbled bay leaf, and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper.Preheat your oven to 320 f (160 C). Clean the turkey, plucking any stray pinfeathers, wash it inside and out, and pat it dry. Salt and pepper the cavity and fill it with the stuffing, sealing the openings by skewering them shut. Truss the bird, put it on a rack, breast side up, and roast it for 2 hours, basting it occasionally with the pan drippings.
Turn the heat up to 380 F (190 C), remove the bird from the oven briefly to lay the finely sliced pancetta over the breast, and return it to the oven for another half hour.
While it's roasting, core the remaining apples, peel them if you want, slice them, and sauté them in the butter, with the minced garlic and a pinch of salt. Serve them with the turkey.
A wine? Red, but not too forceful. A Teroldego from Trentino would be nice.
