by Sandra Piddock

Created on: December 03, 2008

Turkey is eaten at Christmas in many countries now, so they are readily available in Spain, if you must have one. Why not go native, though, and serve your turkey Catalan style for a tasty, Spanish alternative?

The fruit, nut and meat stuffing is deliciously different, and very versatile. It can also be used with pork or chicken and, if you leave out the meat and nuts, it can be used as a filling for baked apples. As the apples are like small footballs at the moment and very cheap, this is a great idea for an Anglo-Spanish dessert.

The quantities can be scaled down to serve smaller numbers, or make the whole amount of stuffing, cook separately and freeze for future use. Make the stuffing the day before you need it, to allow the flavours to develop. Buen Provechio!

Ingredients (for up to 12 hungry people)

I turkey, 4-5 kg
4 tablespoons olive oil
250g minced pork or ham, chopped
3 pork sausages
50 g prunes, soaked, pitted and chopped
50 g dried apricots, or peaches, soaked, pitted and chopped
25 g Mlaga raisins, seeded
1 apple, peeled, cored and diced
I stalk celery, chopped
onion, chopped
25 g pine-nuts
10 chestnuts, roasted, peeled and chopped
tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper
100 g breadcrumbs
100 mI amontillado Sherry
4 -6 rashers of fatty bacon
Thyme, oregano, bay, rosemary tied with thread as a bouquet garni (use fresh herbs if possible)

Wash and dry the turkey and rub inside and out with salt and a little of the Sherry, or with lemon juice.

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the chopped pork or ham and the chopped sausages. When browned, add the chopped prunes and apricots, raisins, apples, celery, onion, pine-nuts, chopped chestnuts, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Stir in the Sherry and cook for a few minutes until the mixture is "dry". Add breadcrumbs.

Stuff the turkey with this mixture and cook any leftover stuffing separately in a greased dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the surface to ensure a crispy topping. Sew up the openings and truss the bird with string, tying the legs and wings close to the body and covering the breast with thin slices of fatty bacon. Put the turkey in a roasting pan with the bouquet garni of herbs of herbs. Cover the breast and legs with foil, or make a foil tent' to cover the whole bird.

Put in a very hot oven for 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to moderate and roast the bird, basting frequently.

After an hour's roasting, add a glassful of white wine and continue adding wine as it is cooked away. Any vino de mesa' (table wine) will do for this, as long as it's dry or medium dry.

Remove the foil and the fatty bacon from the breast towards end of cooking time so that the skin browns. Allow about 20 minutes per kilo of turkey.

Remove turkey to a serving platter and allow to rest covering loosely with the foil used to roast the bird.

Take any excessive fat off the juices from the roasting pan and either serve separately straight from the pan or thicken with a little cornflour mixed with water or port.

Serve with vegetables. Why not try a mix of Mediterranean roast vegetables? Use courgettes, aubergines, carrots, red onions and anything else that takes your fancy. Cut into medium sized chunks, toss in olive oil and black pepper and roast in a hot oven for 40 minutes or longer, until browned and cooked through. Sprinkle with fresh or freeze dried parsley and a little lemon juice just before serving.

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