As with biscotti there is an undeniable American-Italian influence at play here but, once again, I embrace this. Actually, though, American-Italian food has had its own influence on the cooking of the Old Country: these days, I am reliably informed by my Italian publisher and celebrated food writer, Csaba dalla Zorza, you can find dried cranberries with relative ease in Italy.
The true Italian Christmas dinner is very much about the capon. Yes, you can find capons outside of Italy, although not everyone can quite cope with the idea of eating a castrated cockerel. Many understandably view old-school caponization with distaste, although it is considered ethically acceptable if the rooster has been chemically rather than surgically castrated. I don't know about you, but the idea of eating meat that has been flooded with the types of hormones necessarily involved here gives me the willies.
Besides, my Christmas Dinner is my Christmas Dinner: unchanging, ritualistic, an intrinsic part of me. When in Rome, and all that, but if I'm cooking at home, I don't fiddle with my time-honored menu. I'm not going to give an evangelical tub-thump about my turkey brining techniques, as I've done enough of that in the past, but I am still open to other ways of celebrating the Big Bird and this recipe is a case in point. For me, it is perfect for any sort of seasonal supper party, but really comes into its own on a buffet table, as it carves fantastically and is as good (maybe even better) cold than hot, so you can make it in advance and then be the world's most unharried host on the night.
You need to go to a butcher to get a while breast joint and you need to ask for it to be butterflied and boned and make sure the skin is left on.
I know it might sound a bit of a faff, but take it from me that stuffing a while double breast joint is very much easier than stuffing and rolling a single breast joint, as is more commonly found in supermarkets. Basically, all you're doing here is opening out your boneless turkey joint, smothering it with stuffing, and folding it over. What you end up with, for all the ease of its creation, is nothing short of a showstopper.
Recipe information
Yield
Serves 12, or many more as part of a buffet
Ingredients
For the stuffing
For the turkey joint
Preparation
Step 1
Put the cranberries and Marsala into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then take off the heat and leave to one side.
Step 2
Put the oil into a large frying pan or similar heavy pan, and fry the shallots for a minute or so, then add the spices and chopped sage, turning them in the soft shallots.
Step 3
Squeeze the sausage meat out of its skins, add to the pan, and break it up—using a wooden fork and spatula for ease—turning it in the hot pan until it loses its pinkness. This will take about 5 minutes.
Step 4
Take the frying pan off the heat and turn the contents into a large bowl, mixing in the steeped cranberries and any Marsala clinging to them, and leave to cool. You can cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator for up to 2 days at this stage. When you are ready to stuff the turkey breast, take the bowl of sausage meat out of the refrigerator.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Step 6
Uncover the bowl of sausage meat, add the eggs, Parmesan, and bread crumbs and—I use my hands for this—mix well. Lay the butterflied turkey joint out in front of you. It really does look like a butterfly, though admittedly a fleshy one. Spread the stuffing out first in the slight cavity in the center of the butterfly and then outward onto the wings though not going right up to the edge (or it will squidge out when cooking) but as evenly as possible over the whole joint.
Step 7
Carefully, in one swift but steady movement, fold one "wing" over the other to close the joint, and then sit the turkey in a large roasting pan, breast bone (or where the breast bone would be) on top as it would look were it the whole bird, with the pointier bit farthest away from you. Thread 2 skewers through the base—i.e., the widest part that is nearer you—to keep it closed, and smear it all over with the duck or goose fat.
Step 8
Roast the turkey breast for 2–2 1/2 hours, then check it is cooked with a turkey or meat thermometer. When cooked, it should read 165°F in the center. (If you're leaving it to rest, as you should, or to cool, you could take it out at 160°F—it will retain heat and continue to cook for a short while once out of the oven.)
Step 9
Flex your muscles, then lift out onto a cutting board, and leave to rest for at least 20 minutes. Or leave to get cold if you are eating it as part of a cook-ahead buffet.
Step 10
Cut through the whole joint in wide slices right across; they will need to be quite thick, at least 1/2 inch, maybe 1 inch, to keep the stuffing intact within the slice.
Step 11
As you place it on table or sideboard, dot around it the condiments of your choice: I revert to Christmas in Italy here by putting a lusciously extravagant pot or two of Italian mostarda di Cremona on the table alongside: this is a hot and sweet preserve of mustardy candied fruits that gleam beautifully and taste both festive and fabulous.
Recipe notes
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