How to roast a turkey breast
A rare breed turkey breast is an effortless way to serve festive fare to your guests, without the hassle of carving a whole bird. Our technique is simple and ensures juicy and flavourful meat, using minimal ingredients. This technique can be used for a plain or stuffed turkey breast, with a longer cooking time needed for the latter.
Ingredients
1 turkey breast (plain or stuffed)
Quartz Hill Olive Oil
Murray River Sea Salt
Fresh herbs (like thyme and bay leaves)
Chicken stock
Lemon wedges
Preparing the roast
Remove the turkey breast from its plastic the night before you intend to roast, pat it dry then place it on a tray in a fridge to dry overnight.
This step will ensure the skin dries out prior to cooking.
When ready to cook, take the breast out of the fridge an hour before cooking and pre heat a 200C fan-forced oven.
Roasting the breast
Choose a roasting dish that will fit the turkey breast. Lay the dish with some sprigs of thyme and bay leaf.
Rub the turkey with olive oil and a generous amount of sea salt then place it on top of the herbs.
Place some wedges of lemon around the turkey, add 250ml of chicken stock to the dish then place it into the oven.
Roast the turkey for 30 minutes then drop the temperature to 150C and cook for a further 20 minutes per 500g (depending on the weight of the breast).
Resting, carving and serving the turkey breast
To test for readiness, check with a meat thermometer – it should be 72C for a stuffed turkey breast or 65C for a plain turkey breast.
Place it on a board and allow the turkey breast to rest uncovered for 30 minutes.
If you don't have a thermometer, the turkey is ready once the juices run clear when probed with a skewer.
Warm some traditional gravy in a small saucepan. When the gravy starts to simmer, add in the resting juices from the turkey breast.
Place the rested turkey breast onto a board then remove any of the trussing before carving into 1cm thick pieces.
Arrange the slices of turkey on a serving plate then garnish with fresh thyme and the gravy.
Serve with warmed potato gratin and extra stuffing on the side.
