Turkey with Stuffing

To begin, I brine the turkey the day before by immersing it in salted water in order to add flavor and tenderness.

Then I pat dry the turkey with paper towels and place it in the refrigerator for few hours to dry out the skin.

Now it's time to do the STUFFING.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 of sausage meat

1 cup of chopped onions

1 1/2 cup of chopped celery

2 eggs

1 cup grated cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)

                                   

Procedure:

In a saucepan, cook the onion in olive oil until soft.

Add the sausage meat and cook it for 20 to 30 minutes.

Add chopped celery and continue to cook it for 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat, add beaten eggs with cheese.

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2. Once the stuffing is cold, add salt and pepper in the cavity of the turkey and stuff it.

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4. Truss the turkey by tying the legs and wings together so it remains in a compact package while cooking.

5. When ready to cook the turkey allow it to come to room temperature.  Rub it all around with salt and pepper.

6. Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Place the turkey, breast side up on a roasting rack set inside the roasting pan.  Add fresh rosemary and carrots at the bottom of the pan.

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8. Transfer to the oven for 30 minutes. Baste the turkey to add flavor and moisture during the cooking. Cover the breast with aluminum foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue roasting for 3 hours more or until the thermometer reaches 165 degrees.  Brush the turkey few times with pan drippings during the last hour of roasting.

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10. Transfer turkey to a cutting board to rest for 30 minutes or more before carving.

11. I hope you find my details useful and wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Our Italian Thanksgiving – We Skipped the Turkey and Opted for Capon

Up until I got married, it was traditional in our Italian home to cook a capon rather than turkey on Thanksgiving. .

Capon

For your information, a capon is a castrated young rooster.  Since the capon gets a more diverse feed including free range forage, it is fatter and develops more flavor than a turkey. Being fatter, it is very moist, with very white meat and, best of all, it is self-basting. My parents preferred capon over turkey.






Giblet and liver stuffing for Capon - Cappone Ripieno

Ingredients
½ cup olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup cooked giblets and livers
1 cup celery chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon sage chopped
1 teaspoon thyme chopped
½ cup Parmigiano
½ cup blanched almonds

Cooking Giblet: Simmer the chicken giblets, allowing 1 hour for gizzards and 10 minutes for livers. Chop coarsely and measure. Follow procedure below.

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When my children were old enough to understand, we switched from a capon to a turkey and we also adjusted the stuffing to satisfy everyone’s taste.

Sausage stuffing for Turkey

1 lb. sausage meat
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion finely chopped
1 cup celery chopped
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon sage chopped
1 teaspoon thyme chopped
½ cup Parmigiano

Heat oil in a large skillet, add onion and cook until soft, add broken chunks of sausage meat and brown lightly. (or substitute cooked giblets). Add celery and cook for 10 minutes in low heat. Remove from heat, add egg and Parmigiano and mix well.

Let it cool and stuff the turkey.

Roasted turkey