Phil Vickery offers his take on the perfect roast turkey for your Christmas dinner

SAFFRON TURKEY WITH WILD RICE & CRANBERRY STUFFING

Serves: 12

Ingredients:

For the stuffing: 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 onions, chopped; 2 large sprigs rosemary, leaves picked and chopped; 100g cooked wild and long grain rice; 50g dried cranberries; 100g dried apricots, chopped; 175g fresh white breadcrumbs; 6 good quality pork and herb sausages, skinned; 1 lemon, rind finely grated, and halved; 1 egg, beaten

For the turkey: 5.6kg British turkey, thawed if frozen, giblets removed; 1 bay leaf; 50g butter; 1/2 tsp saffron

Method:

1. Fry onion and rosemary in oil for 5-6 mins. Cool, and stir in remaining stuffing ingredients, season and mix well.

2. Preheat oven 190C/Gas mark 5. Melt butter in a small pan, stir in saffron and set aside.

3. Stuff the neck end of turkey, securing neck skin with cocktail sticks. (Remaining can be cooked separately for 30 mins).

4. Weigh turkey and calculate cooking time at 20 minutes per kg + 90 minutes. Place lemon halves and bay leaf into cavity and put into roasting tin. Brush whole bird with saffron butter and season. Cover with foil and roast. Remove foil and baste with saffron butter for last hour of cooking.

5. Check the turkey is cooked - push a metal skewer into the thickest part of the leg - if the juices run clear the turkey is cooked. Cover with foil and leave to rest for 30 mins before carving.

Getting in a flap about cooking your Christmas turkey? Call the British Turkey helpline on 0800 783 9994 (open every weekday up to 5pm on Christmas Eve) for essential advice and tips. Alternatively, text "turkey" followed by the weight of your bird in kilos to 64446 and you'll receive an instant answer on the defrosting time, cooking time and how many it will feed. You can also visit www.britishturkey.co.uk for a handy defrosting and cooking calculator, a step-by-step carving guide and plenty of turkey recipes.

10:01am Monday 10th December 2007

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