Turkey Roulade - Boned, Stuffed, Rolled and Roasted Turkey Breast
I don't always get all fancy, but when I do, I bring my “A” game. A boned, somewhat flattened, stuffed, rolled and roasted breast of turkey, known as a "ballotine” or “roulade”. Delicious for all you white meat lovers! I have boned and stuffed the legs, too, but for this version I roast them on the side just as they are.
Last year there was three of us for Thanksgiving. Depressing, even though I loved my company! Thanksgiving to me is about groaning boards of food and lots of people with which to share. Since that wasn’t happening, I did want to make Thanksgivng special for our little crowd, so I upped the degree of difficulty with my turkey and created this roulade, or stuffed rolled turkey breast, as the centerpiece of our fest for three. It was a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds as well.
From upper left: 1. My beautiful 15 lb. turkey, prepped for surgery. 2. The turkey legs removed, freeing access to the breast meat. 3. The boned breast, flattened out a bit and placed on a clean dishtowel. 4. The turkey bones, ready for roasting with carrots, onions, celery, olive oil and herbs to form the basis of the best turkey stock you can make!
There are lots of tutorials on how to bone a turkey or chicken breast online, but the gold standard remains Julia Child and Jaques Pepin on this PBS special, where he first de-bones a chicken in 32 seconds, then moves onto the turkey (please watch, it’s priceless!!). While he is certainly deft with a knife, my turkey butchering was not as pretty, but it did the trick. I removed the wings and legs first, focusing only on the breast. Once the breast is boned, pounded out a bit and laid out for rolling, I first season the exposed meat with salt, pepper and a little splash of olive oil before adding some of my wild rice and herb stuffing, recipe here. What stuffing does not fit in the bird goes in a baking dish. Time to stuff, roll and tie the bird.
Again, from upper left: 1. The drumsticks, thighs and wings ready to roast 2. The stuffing is prepped and ready to go. 3. The rolled and tied bird (sorry, not a great tutorial), lightly seasoned.
A butcher’s tie is not something everyone can do, so again, Jacques Pepin starts tying his turkey at about 13 minutes (see PBS link above), it’s a great demo. Just watch the whole thing it’s a hoot! Once stuffed and rolled, tied and seasoned, I smear it with a large amount of herbed butter and roast in the oven at 375 until the breast meat registers 155 degrees, about 20 minutes per pound (sans bones) or 1.5 - 2 hours.. I then let it rest for up to an hour before slicing, slathering with my delicious turkey gravy, made from homemade stock from either the carcass above, or turkey wings/drumsticks purchased at the store, roasted, then simmered with water, wine and seasonings and thickened with a roux. It was a big hit with my crowd of two plus me, but it serves much more, depending on the size of the bird you start with. I hope you enjoy this recipe surrounded by friends, family and good health, this year and always. Happy Thanksgiving, and check out more Turkey Day recipes on my site!
Left: The turkey roulade coated in herbed butter, roasted at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes per pound, or to 155 degrees for the meat and stuffing, pictured right, about 2 hours total for my somewhat large bird. Cover with the best gravy ever made, recipe above, and you are good to go!