Aaron Starling, Head Chef

"One of my strongest recollections of Christmas is our entire family gathering each year at my grandparents’ house in the Suffolk countryside of southeast England. My grandad, a local farmer, and my nan, a cook and caterer, are incredibly self-sufficient. They grow their own produce and source most of their meat, including our Christmas turkey, from nearby farms.

One Christmas Eve, when I was about ten, I remember my grandad bringing home a whole turkey, head and wings still attached, and leaving it on top of the chest freezer for my nan to prepare. The freezer happened to sit right beside the bathroom, and waking up that night for the toilet, I was so convinced the turkey would come alive that I asked my dad to escort me!

This whole turkey ballotine makes carving easy. The bird is deboned and filled with a classic sage, confit garlic and onion stuffing. I like to serve it with another of my childhood favourites, pigs in blankets."