Perfect Roast Turkey
A 12- to 15- pound turkey cooks in about 2 to 3 hours, so don’t waste the entire day cooking your whole turkey!
Serves 8.
INGREDIENTS:
1 fresh turkey (12 pounds)
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch of fresh thyme
1 lemon, halved
1 onion, quartered
1 head garlic, halved crosswise
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Optional: 1/2 cup olive oil, 8 carrots (peeled and cut into 2” chunks), 3 onions (sliced), and 3 heads fennel (fronds removed, cut into wedges through the core)
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Take the giblets out of the turkey. Remove any excess fat and leftover pinfeathers and pat the outside dry. Place the turkey on a rack in a large roasting pan.
Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the turkey cavity. Stuff the cavity with the thyme, lemon, quartered onion, and the garlic. Brush the outside of the turkey with the butter and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Tie the legs together with string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the turkey. Roast for 2 1/2 hours.
If using the optional vegetables, toss in the onions with 1/4 cup olive oil and scatter around the turkey. You can also do away with the rack and leave the turkey sitting in the pan. Roast the turkey for 1 hour, then toss the carrots and fennel in 1/4 cup olive oil and add them to the roasting pan as well. Continue roasting for about 1 1/2 hours.
Continue roasting until the juices run clear when you cut between the leg and the thigh.
Remove the turkey to a cutting board and cover with aluminum foil; let it rest for 20 minutes.
If applicable, stir the vegetables and return the pan to the oven. Continue to cook the vegetables while the turkey rests. Slice the turkey and serve on a platter with the roasted vegetables.
*Adapted from Barefoot Contessa