Recipe: Vincotto-glazed turkey with freekeh, cranberry & chestnut stuffing

Recipe: Vincotto-glazed turkey with freekeh, cranberry & chestnut stuffing

Last updated

Turkey, cranberries, roast potatoes, gravy…. it just doesn’t feel like Christmas without them.

As simple as this turkey recipe seems, glazed with our beautiful vincotto, we’ll also wager it’ll be the tastiest Christmas turkey you’ve ever tried.

Pair the bird with this festive freekeh, cranberry and chestnut stuffing, a bowl of crispy duck fat potatoes and a jug of gravy, and it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Add some extra festive flair with our The Essential Ingredient Cranberry Relish or Drunken Sailor’s exceptional Spiced Cranberry and Port Jam.

Need a roasting pan, gravy boat, serving bowls, table linens or any other Christmas essentials? Visit one of our stores or shop online for delivery to anywhere in Australia.


Ingredients (Serves 8-10)

  • 1 x turkey (approx. 4kg), thawed
  • 1x 375mL bottle The Essential Ingredient Vincotto
  • 200g wholegrain freekeh
  • 10 small shallots or pearl onions
  • 5 slices day-old sourdough
  • 500mL chicken stock
  • 200g vacuum packed chestnuts
  • The Essential Ingredient Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 60g The Essential Ingredient Dried Cranberries
  • 2 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley
  • 1 tbsp corn flour
  • Salt and pepper

Cook freekeh in a large pot of unsalted water until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water.

Carefully peel shallots, and simmer whole in the chicken stock for 30 minutes. Remove shallots from pot, reserving the stock for the gravy.

Trim crusts from sourdough and cut bread into 1cm cubes. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, tossing the bread until oil is evenly distributed. Roast bread in the oven until golden- approximately 20 minutes.

Chop chestnuts into chunks and fry in 1.5tbsp extra virgin olive oil until browned all over.

Combine cooked freekeh, toasted bread, braised onions, fried chestnuts (and any remaining oil in the pan), dried cranberries and flat leaf parsley in a bowl. Dress with a little more olive oil, then season with salt and pepper.

When initial cooking time is done, take turkey from the oven, remove the baking paper and foil and discard. Spoon stuffing into cavity, taking care not to overfill (any remaining stuffing can be served on the side later).

Pour vincotto into a bowl and, using a pastry brush, apply a thick layer to the skin of the turkey. Return turkey to the oven. Roast for a further 45 minutes, brushing with vincotto every 15 minutes.

When cooked, carefully remove turkey from roasting tray and transfer to a platter or chopping board.

Drain any liquid in the turkey cavity into the roasting tray (taking care not to lose any stuffing), then strain all the tray’s liquid into a saucepan. Add the onion-infused stock to the pan and bring to a simmer, cooking until reduced by 1/3.

Mix cornflour in a small bowl with two tablespoons of water. Add cornflour mix to saucepan and continue to simmer until thickened.

Glaze turkey with vincotto again before serving. Serve with extra stuffing, gravy, cranberry relish, duck fat potatoes and vegetables or salad.

Related Recipes

Latest Articles & Recipes