Roast turkey with chestnuts and mushrooms

Roasted chicken or roast turkey recipes are, without a doubt, one of the simplest to prepare and the most successful when it comes to presenting them on the table. It is as easy as putting the main piece in the pot accompanied by those elements that will give it flavor (herbs and spices), a good drizzle of oil and, from here, the oven will do all the work.

Today's recipe acquires an autumnal touch when accompanying the turkey with chestnuts and mushrooms . What we will do, to give it a slightly different touch, is to caramelize this accompaniment before introducing it into the cocotte. A very simple step but that will help it acquire a special touch.

I hope this recipe accompanies you on Sundays or family holidays. All the diners will smile at you when you bring the result to the table.

Ingredients (for 4-6 people)

• A turkey of 3 to 4 kg (you can also do it with chicken)
• 2 fresh sprigs of thyme, sage and rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 garlic cloves
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2-3 large butter nuts
• 3 onions
• 1 spoon of sugar
• 100g bacon (bacon) cut into squares
• 250g mushrooms cut in half
• 400g of peeled chestnuts
• Salt and pepper, and d'Espelette pepper (optional)

Le Creuset oval cocotte , Le Creuset grinders and Le Creuset Damascus steel knives

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to preheat to 180ºC.
2. Stuff the turkey with the thyme sprigs, sage and rosemary, bay leaves, and garlic. Add salt and pepper inside.
3. Add the butter in the iron cocotte , and introduce the turkey in it. Season it on the outside with salt and pepper and add the oil to the cocotte, also basting the turkey in time.
4. Introduce more garlic around the turkey and more rosemary and bay leaf if you want, it will be more aromatic.
5. Put the cocotte in the oven for about 1 to 1.5 hours, without the lid. Throughout cooking, you can go basting the turkey with its own juice with the help of a spoon.
6. In a cast-iron skillet , put the onion, the diced bacon, the olive oil and the sugar to caramelize for three minutes. When the three minutes have passed, add the chestnuts and the salted and peppered mushrooms and stir to mix well.
7. Then, add that mixture around the turkey and leave it in the oven for another 30 minutes, also without the lid of the cocotte.

Grades

• We have used turkey but you can follow the recipe exactly the same using chicken, either whole or quartered.
• If you use a whole chicken or turkey, the use of an oval cocotte is recommended, it has the perfect shape for it. If you cut it into quarters, you can use a round cocotte .
• You can substitute the use of butter, but be generous in the use of oil, it will be better roasted, tasty and tender (in the absence of it it will also be drier).