Turkey Wellington with Added Excellence

With Christmas around the corner, here’s a new take on a rustic classic.

Serves 4 

5lb turkey breast with skin removed
450g puff pastry
Flour, egg and oil 

For the stuffing:

2 onions, finely chopped
Butter and 2 eggs
350g turkey trimmings (from breast)
200g pork sausage, skinned
150g chopped, dried cranberries
150g unsweetened chestnut purée
100g fresh white breadcrumbs

For the sauce:

Knob of butter
50g shallots or onions, sliced
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
400ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
1 heaped tsp plain flour
25g butter

Egg wash (whisk together):

1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water

1   Trim the turkey, keeping some back for the stuffing, then tie the breast with a loop of string.

2   Heat 2-3 tbsp of cooking oil in a large, seasoned frying pan or roasting tray. Pan fry the turkey until golden brown, then cool. Then refrigerate.

3   Stuffing: cook the onions in a knob of butter then cool. Chop the turkey trimmings then blitz. Add sausages until mixed in. Add cranberries, chestnut purée and breadcrumbs, season, and tip in two eggs. Blitz again, then add the onions before chilling.

4   Roll the puff pastry on a floured surface to a rectangle. Spread most of the cranberry stuffing on, removing the string from the turkey and laying the breast lengthwise. Add the remaining mix along the centre top of the turkey.

5   Bring one long side of the pastry up and over the turkey. Brush the other long side with beaten egg, then seal. Turn the wellington so that the presentation side is up and put on a lightly oiled baking tray. Chill.

6   To cook the wellington: preheat the oven to 170°C (fan assisted) and bake for 1hr 15mins. After 45mins, brush the wellington with the egg wash to help colour the pastry. Once cooked, rest for 15mins.

7   Now, the sauce: melt a knob of butter in a pan, once bubbling add the shallots or onions and cook on a medium high heat until a rich deep golden colour. Add the honey and continue to cook for a few minutes until bubbling. Now add red wine vinegar and red wine. Bring to the boil and reduce by half, adding the stock before simmering. Mix the flour with 25g butter and whisk it in, returning the mixture to the boil before reducing to a simmer. Strain through a sieve, season, slice the wellington and serve with noisette potatoes and Brussels sprouts.