This roast turkey recipe is so good, and perfect for anyone who finds plain roast turkey with gravy a little dry and bland. A little chopped chorizo is wonderful in a stuffing for chicken or turkey, but of course feel free to leave it out if you wish. For sheer convenience, you can cook and carve the turkey in advance, and place it in a dish, covered in the herby cream sauce, then reheat to serve.

The stuffing can be made up to two days in advance, and stored in the fridge. Or make now and freeze until Christmas. Once the stuffing is made and cool, the turkey can be stuffed 24 hours in advance and stored somewhere cool until you cook it.

If you want to make a plain gravy instead of the cream and herb sauce here, then that is perfect; just leave out the herbs, and replace the cream with extra stock.

Serves 8-16, depending on the size of your turkey

Ingredients:

1 turkey, approx 4-5 kg

For the stuffing:

150g butter

350g finely chopped onions

400g chorizo, chopped into 1cm dice

4 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tbsp chopped thyme or marjoram

450g soft white breadcrumbs

25g soft butter

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce:

550ml chicken or turkey stock

550ml cream

3 tbsp chopped herbs, such as tarragon, marjoram or mixed parsley, thyme, chives and marjoram

For the roux:

50g butter

50g flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C, Gas 4.

First make the stuffing: melt the butter in a saucepan, then add in the chopped onion and the chorizo, cover with the lid, and cook over a low heat for about 10-12 minutes until the onions are soft. Take off the heat, then stir in the chopped herbs and the breadcrumbs. Season to taste. Allow the stuffing to cool, unless it is going to be cooked straight away.

Remove the wishbone from the neck end of the turkey (or ask your butcher to do this) – this will make carving easier later. Weigh the turkey and calculate the cooking time – see note on p29. Spoon the stuffing into the carcass of the turkey (and into the neck end too) and place the turkey in a roasting tray. Smear the 25g of soft butter over the skin, and sprinkle with some sea salt and some freshly ground black pepper, and place in the oven to cook.

While the turkey is cooking (or a few days before – and kept in the fridge ) make the roux. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, add the flour and cook over a medium heat for two minutes, then set aside.

When the turkey is cooked, the legs should feel quite loose in the bird, and when a skewer or knife is stuck into the thigh, with a spoon placed underneath to catch the juices, they (the juices) should run clear.

Transfer the turkey to a serving plate or another tray, and leave to rest, in a warm oven if possible, while you make the sauce. Remove any fat that you can at this stage, then place the roasting tray on the hob on a medium heat, add half of the stock and bring to the boil, whisking to get the sweet juicy bits which have stuck to the tray (this is called deglazing). When it comes to the boil, pour it into a mais-gras, or just a small bowl or pyrex jug. If using the bowl/jug add three or four ice cubes – this will draw the fat up to the top, which you can spoon off and discard. If using a mais-gras, degrease the juices in the usual way.

Pour the degreased juices into a saucepan, add the remainder of the stock and the cream, bring to the boil, and simmer uncovered for about five minutes, until the flavour has strengthened. Season to taste; if it is still a little bland, boil it for another couple of minutes. Add the chopped herbs, and while still gently boiling, add about two tablespoons of the roux, whisking all the time. This will thicken the boiling sauce. Whisk in more roux to the boiling sauce if you want it a little thicker. Don't make it too thick as it will be rich. If, while the sauce is sitting around, it gets a bit thick, just add a little stock or even water to thin it out again.

Carve the turkey, and serve with some stuffing, then pour over the hot cream and herb sauce.

* If the turkey is getting a bit brown during cooking at any stage, cover it with a butter wrapper, a piece of tin foil or parchment paper.