Turkey Wellington

Ok, the pièce de résistance for my pre-Christmas dinner the Turkey Wellington!  I wanted to serve something that was traditional, so Turkey, but I didn’t want to do a whole turkey because that’s for Christmas dinner at my parents’.  I also wanted something really show offy!  Now, this dish is complicated.  But none of the steps are, in and of themselves, complicated.  It’s just a matter of following the process through a step at a time.  Now, to break this down I even stopped to take photos, my camera loves flour, really! 

Serves about 8 I’d say.  Or 4 with plenty of leftovers (makes a cracking sandwich!)

~1.6kg Turkey breast (freezer section in Tescos!) defrosted
~900g streaky bacon, rindless (3 packs of Tesco value rind on streaky bacon for me)
500g puff pastry
1 egg, beaten

For the stuffing:
2 onions, finely chopped
knob of butter
350g minced turkey
250g sausages, skinned (just use your favourites, Coop Lincolnshire for me!)
2 eggs, beaten
150g dried cranberries
150g unsweetened chestnut puree
100g fresh white breadcrumbs

– First take your turkey breast and remove the skin and any gross bits. (Yes, I’m 5). 
– Then trim the breast to make it more of a cylinder. 
– Tie the breast with string.  (I sort of followed this video but fudged the first bit coz I didn’t follow.) 

Trim and tie your turkey breast.

– Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a very large frying pan. 
– Season the breast then place in the pan and brown evenly on all sides. 
– Set aside to cool. 

Pan fry the breast until golden brown.

– Now for the stuffing!
– Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan. 
– Add the onions and cook til soft.  Leave to cool. 
– Mix the minced turkey and sausage meat in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Easiest with your hands, use a spoon if you’re squeamish!
– Add the eggs and mix until thick and smooth. 
– Mix in the onion, cranberries, chestnut puree and breadcrumbs and seasoning and mix until everything is evenly distributed. 
– Set aside. 

– Roll out your pastry on a floured surface until it is about 45cmx45cm.  Size it up so it will wrap around your turkey. 
– Place your bacon over the pastry, laying it so there are no gaps, leaving a few centimeters at the edges.  Keep back about 5 rashers. 

Cover the pastry in bacon.- Spread the stuffing over the bacon, reserving a few heaped spoonfulls. Spread the stuffing over the bacon.

– Place the turkey in the centre of the pastry, topside down. 

Place the Turkey in the centre topside down.

– Spread the remaining stuffing on top of the turkey.   
– Gently pick up the bacon and fold it over the turkey.  Do this a bit at a time, pressing it to hold it in place. 
– Use the remaining 5 bacon rashers to cover the gap. 

Wrap it in bacon.

– Fold one long side of the pastry up and over the top. 
– Brush the edge  with egg. 
– Fold the second edge up and press to seal the two edges together. 
– Now brush the sides with egg and fold up, press to seal. 

Fold up the pastry.

– Next, carefully roll/lift it onto a greased baking tray. 
– Use the egg to stick any decorations you want to the top. 

Flip onto tray and decorate!

– Set aside until you want to cook it. 
– Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/200C. 
– Brush with egg and pop it in the oven for 1 hour 25 minutes.  Unfortunately there’s no way to check it for doneness so if you happen to cut into it and it looks a little pink, bung it back in the oven. 
– After the 1 hour 25 minutes take it out of the oven and leave it to rest for 20 minutes. 
– Use two large fish slices to carefully lift it onto a carving board. 
– Slice and serve. 

Serve with as many trimmings as you wish!

Advertisement