Filled with the festive flavours of apples and honey this is delicious Rosh Hashanah main course. If your custom is to avoid eating nuts between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, simply omit the pine nuts or sub in a can of drained and well roasted chickpeas instead.

Method



• Heat the oil to medium heat in a frying pan. Add the onions and celery and fry gently until golden. Add the garlic, sage and parsley and fry for another minute. Put the breadcrumbs in a large bowl and then add the onion mixture. Next add the apples, raisins or cranberries and season with salt and pepper.
• Add a drizzle of honey and a couple of tablespoons of the cold stock to bind the mixture. If it is not holding together, add a little of the cider to bind it.

• Shape the mixture into a narrow log and chill for 20-30 minutes. You can prep this ahead and freeze it ready to stuff the leg.

• Heat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).
• Lay the turkey skin side down and place the stuffing down the middle of the thigh. Tie the meat around the stuffing with string, food safe elastic or silicone trussing bands - your friendly local butcher may give you a few elastic trussing bands if you ask nicely. Weigh the rolled, stuffed turkey at this point.
• Spread the sliced onion over the base of a roasting tin, place the turkey thigh skin side up on top and season with salt and pepper. Add 125ml water to the tin and roast for 45 minutes per kilogram of the rolled weight – around 1 hour 15 minutes. 
• Five minutes before the end of the cooking time, drizzle the top of the thigh with the honey to glaze. When it is cooked – it should be hot all the way through. You can check by inserting a skewer to the centre of the stuffing, waiting 30 seconds and then checking the tip of the skewer is piping hot.
• Remove the turkey to a board and cover loosely with foil to stay warm while you make the gravy. Strain the pan juices through sieve into a small saucepan, add the remaining chicken stock and half the bottle of cider. Bring to a simmer.
• To thicken the gravy, mix a tablespoon of the cornflour with enough cider to make a loose paste, then add it to the gravy and stir over the heat until the gravy is as thick as you like it. If not thick enough you can add more cornflour/cider paste and continue stirring.
• Cut the turkey thigh into slices and serve with the gravy.

Louismann