roast turkey with garlic, sage and orange

tacchino arrosto all’aglio, salvia e

8 to 10 servings with leftovers

Roasting the turkey with whole heads of garlic gives you a secret ingredient for the gravy; the softened cloves get added to the gravy to give it body and a boost of flavor.

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Ingredients

8 whole heads garlic
1 large bunch fresh sage
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 large juicy oranges
Fine sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 (14-pound) whole fresh or thoroughly defrosted frozen turkey, giblets reserved for stuffing, and turkey left at room temperature for 1 hour
About 4 cups Brodo or low-sodium chicken broth, preferably homemade
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Melted unsalted butter, if necessary
Coarse sea salt for serving
Special equipment: kitchen string; a 17- x 14-inch flameproof roasting pan (not dark metal or nonstick); a 2-quart measuring cup; a fat separator (optional)

Instructions

Heat oven to 350° with rack in lower third.

Cut 1/2 inch off top of garlic heads. Finely chop half of the sage leaves; set aside 2 teaspoons chopped sage for gravy.

In a small bowl, combine remaining chopped sage and oil; add the grated zest of 1 1/2 oranges and season generously with salt and pepper.
Put turkey in roasting pan. Rub seasoned oil all over turkey, including large cavity.

Cut the 2 grated oranges into quarters. Put quartered orange pieces, remaining whole sage sprigs and 2 heads garlic into the cavity of the bird. Fold neck skin under body, then tuck wing tips under breast and tie drumsticks together with string.

Put remaining trimmed heads garlic around turkey, trimmed-sides up. Cut peel from 1 of the remaining oranges in long strips, avoiding white pith. Scatter strips over garlic. Squeeze the juice from both remaining oranges into a small bowl; set juice aside.

Roast turkey for 1 hour, then rotate pan 180 degrees. Pour reserved orange juice over bird.

Continue roasting, basting with the pan drippings every 30 minutes, tenting loosely with foil if browning too quickly, and occasionally rotating pan, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into fleshy part of both thighs (check both, close to but not touching bone) registers 165° to 170°, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours more (total roasting time: 3 to 3 1/2 hours).

Carefully tilt turkey so juices from inside large cavity run into pan. Transfer turkey to a platter and let stand, uncovered, for 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 175°). Reserve pan drippings and roasted garlic for gravy.

While the turkey rests, make the gravy. Transfer garlic heads to a large fine-mesh sieve. Set sieve over a 2-quart measure. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add 1 cup Brodo and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 2 minutes. Strain pan juices through sieve, pressing gently but firmly on garlic and orange peels to extract juices and flavors; skim off fat (or use fat separator), reserving fat. Add enough Brodo to pan juices to bring total to 5 cups.

Whisk together flour and 6 tablespoons reserved fat (if there is less, add melted butter) in a heavy medium saucepan; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until pale golden, about 3 minutes. Add pan juices and Brodo in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil, whisking, then reduce to a simmer; cook, whisking occasionally, until thickened to desired consistency, 10 to 12 minutes. Whisk in reserved chopped sage and pinch pepper. Season with salt, if necessary.

Carve the turkey and serve with gravy and coarse sea salt.

Recipe by Marco Canora

Photo by Nina Choi

November 2009