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Rolled Turkey Breast with Wild Rice and Apple Stuffing

A lovely alternative to a complete roasted turkey dinner, the rolled turkey breast takes on visual interest with the wild rice and apple stuffing swirling through each slice. A sage butter basting, and a cider scented gravy means that this meal is tender, moist and makes for tasty leftovers.
Course Main Course
Cuisine North American
Keyword apple butter, granny smith apple, sage, turkey breast, wild rice
Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients

Turkey Breast

  • 1 whole 5 lb turkey breast, for smaller split breasts, or for feeding less, see Notes below
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 2 1/2 pieces
  • 2 celery ribs, cut into 2 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 medium to large yellow onion, sliced into 8 wedges
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves

Stuffing

  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves
  • 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • 1 Granny Smith apple, cored and small diced
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed slightly dry bread, sourdough is lovely
  • 1/2 cup cooked wild rice blend
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans
  • 3 tbsp dried cranberries
  • 1 tsp dried sage
  • 1 tsp each salt and pepper
  • 1/3 cup turkey or chicken stock, see Notes
  • 1 egg

Basting and Gravy

  • 2 cups turkey or chicken stock
  • 1/2 cup apple cider
  • 3 tbsp AP flour, can use gluten free as well
  • 2 cups turkey or chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp Calvados or apple brandy, optional
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

Stuffing

  1. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sweat till starting to soften. Add the garlic and stir for another 2 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and stir through till just softening.
  2. Add the chopped apple and stir, allowing the apple to take on a little colour and become aromatic.
  3. Transfer everything to a large bowl.
  4. Add in the bread cubes, wild rice, pecans, cranberries, dried sage, 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper. Stir in 1/4 cup of the stock. Let it sit for a minute and taste. Re-season with more sage, salt or pepper as desired. Whisk the egg and stir it through the stuffing. This can be set aside while you work on the turkey breast. You can also make everything before adding the stock and egg the day before and stored in the fridge. Bring back up to room temperature before adding the stock and egg.

Turkey

  1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Have a rack set in the centre of the oven.
  2. In a baking dish about 10 x13 inches, lay out the chopped carrots, celery and onion. These will be the trivot that the rolled turkey breast will sit on. Set aside.

  3. Place the turkey breast skin facing down, out onto a cutting board, or onto the counter over a layer of wax paper if your cutting board is too small. Open the turkey breast up, butterflying it to open it even further: Use a sharp knife to cut through the thickest parts of the turkey on either side of the centre, so that the cut is going outwards parallel to the counter. Don't cut all the way through though, stop about 1/2 or more before the edge. Now you should be able to pull the top section out towards the outside, like the page of a book. Repeat on the other side of the turkey breast.

  4. Cover the entire opened up breast with another layer of wax paper. Use a meat mallet to pound down and out, pushing the meat firmly out and into an even layer, about 1/2 or so thick. Try to get it all as even as possible. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and pepper evenly over the meat. Ensure that the shorter ends of the breast are at the top and bottom as you look down on it.
  5. Take the stuffing mixture and spread it out in an even layer over all the breast, leaving a 1 inch border all around.
  6. If for some reason there is too much stuffing for the turkey, don't pile it too high, better to bake any extra is a small baking dish on the side.
  7. Take the side edges and try to fold them in over the stuffing.
  8. Starting at the bottom, firmly roll up the turkey breast, catching the side edges to keep any stuffing from falling out as it bakes. Roll till you get to the top and then finish so that the end seam is underneath.

  9. Cut 5 or so long lengths of kitchen twine and lay them out in about 1 inch intervals in front of you. Roll the stuffed breast over the twine with the seam finishing up on top now. Wrap the twine up to meet at the seam and tie each one tightly to hold the meat firmly. Trim excess twine.

  10. If you have extra skin at either end, use a toothpick to catch the skin over the end openings to secure as an added bonus to hold in the stuffing. Transfer the rolled breast to the prepared baking dish, with the seam side down on the veggies.
  11. Sprinkle 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper over the entire surface of the breast.
  12. In a small pot, melt the butter and sage together over medium heat. Brush this entirely over the breast, saving some of the butter for future basting.
  13. Place the baking dish in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Baste with the remaining butter and any juices that are starting to collect in the pan.
  14. Reduce the heat to 350F and return the baking dish to the oven turning it so that the breast can brown evenly.
  15. After another 30 minutes, baste with the apple cider, pouring the remainder over the vegetables.
  16. Continue basting regularly till the breast is a glorious burnished colour, and the meat is 155F in the centre when you use an instant read thermometer. This may take another 40-50 minutes, depending on how large the roll is. Start checking at 35 minutes, if your roll is on the smaller side.
  17. Place the breast onto a cutting board and tent loosely with foil.

Cider Gravy

  1. Remove the vegetables to a bowl (great for snacking or serving)
  2. Pour all pan juices into large measuring cup. Spoon off fat that rises to surface. Transfer 3 tablespoons fat to heavy large saucepan; discard remaining fat.
  3. Place turkey roasting pan over 2 burners. If you used a pan that cannot sit on a burner, scrape out all the bits and place them into a large sauce pan. Add the stock and cider.
  4. Bring to boil over high heat, scraping up browned bits. Boil liquid until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes. Add the mixture in the measuring cup from roasting pan to the reduced pan juices. If necessary, add enough stock to measure 3 cups total stock mixture.
  5. Place the saucepan with the turkey fat over medium-high heat. Add flour; whisk 2 minutes. Whisk in stock mixture. Boil until gravy thickens enough to coat spoon thinly, about 6 minutes.
  6. Whisk in 2 tablespoons Calvados (if using), or more to taste, and sage. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Slice and arrange turkey slices on a platter. Drizzle with a little of the gravy.

Recipe Notes

One 2.5 lb side or split turkey breast will feed four comfortably. 2 sides will feed up to six. A full breast will feed 8 or even more, depending on the size.

Choose the size you need, follow all the instructions, using less stuffing and baking the remainder in a dish for about 45 minutes at 350F. A smaller rolled breast will be ready earlier, so use a thermometer to start checking earlier. If you are roasting a small split breast, the initial time at 425F should be reduced to 20 minutes.

I purchase 2-3 wings aside for turkey stock that will work great for this recipe, below is a quick way to do it.
The day before, place the wings, coarsely chopped onions (including the yellow skin), 2 ribs of chopped celery, 1 leek, 3 dried bay leaves, 10 peppercorns, bouquet garni of fresh parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (sounds like a great title for a song...) into a large stock pot and fill with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 3-4 hours. Strain, cool, refrigerate or freeze. This can be used for the gravy. It also is fabulous to drink as tea, season with a little salt and pepper first.

If preparing the meat earlier in the afternoon, prepare your gravy, and then in a baking dish, pour a small amount of gravy to just cover the bottom of the pan. Add the rested and sliced turkey onto the gravy. Drizzle with a touch more gravy. Cover with foil and reheat at 300F for about 10-15 minutes. Keep the rest of the gravy on the back burner of your stove to reheat.