Roasted Turkey Christmas Recipe – 01/12/2025 – Food

Türkiye is on Christmas menus all over Brazil. But roasting them is different from small birds.

“They’re larger pieces, and they require more technique,” says Ivan Santinho, chef at La Cura Gastronomia, in Villa Maddalena, whose rotisserie sells more than 300 roasts at the end of the year. “Those who are used to grilling chicken won’t necessarily master roasting a turkey.”

The chef offers tips below on how to prepare a turkey without making mistakes.

Christmas Türkiye

performance: 10 servings

time: According to the plastic thermometer of the piece

ingredients

• 400 grams of butter, room temperature
• 1 hot pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 hot pepper, seedless, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Fresh thyme as desired
• Fresh rosemary as desired
• Zest of 1 orange
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 Tahitian lemon
• 1 turkey (about 4 kg)
• Peeled onions, as desired
• 1 liter of orange juice

to prepare

• Mix the butter with the spices and peel – there’s no need to add salt, because the cured birds are already salted and seasoned. Carefully lift the skin of the bird little by little and spread the butter with your fingertips. Reserve some to fill.
• Stuff the turkey with onions and remaining butter, tie the ends of the thighs with string, then cover it with aluminum foil and bake at 180 degrees Celsius, until the plastic thermometer explodes. Remove the aluminum and return it to the oven until it browns, then brush it with butter from the bottom of the pan.
• Transfer the bird to a serving platter, and while it’s resting, place the roasting tray on the stove. When it starts to sizzle, add the orange juice and scrape the bottom well to add flavor to the sauce. Drain, reduce slightly, adjust salt if necessary, and serve separately.