Not everyone wants to make a whole turkey for Thanksgiving. Many people just like to make a turkey breast. You get all white meat....and you still get the great skin. I don't understand why but some people do not like the dark meat. To me it is the most flavorful part of the turkey. So I make both. But have you ever stuffed a turkey breast?? It is actually super simple and what a beautiful presentation it makes. And when the meat is cooked around this delicious, flavor packed Mushroom & Bacon Stuffing and rubbed on the outside with my Herb & Garlic Butter.....awesome!!!! Soooo flavorful, juicy and delicious. You are making the stuffing and the turkey anyway....give it a try. And let the butcher do the work for you. When you pick up your turkey breast, just ask the butcher to butterfly it for you. They are the professionals.....you might as well let them do it!!! It will be perfect and sooo much easier.
STUFFED TURKEY BREAST
BUTTERFLIED TURKEY BREAST (SIZE OF YOUR CHOICE BUT I USED A 4 LB BREAST)
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. So if you picked up your turkey breast yesterday and/or made your stuffing yesterday, then take out both from your refrigerator and allow it to sit for awhile to come to room temperature before starting. This will help your cooking times and oven temperature remain accurate. Also, take out the Herb & Garlic Butter. You will need this at room temp also so you can spread nicely. Now we are ready to roll!!!
First, lay your turkey breast out flat. You can work right on the paper wrap it came in so you can just roll it all up and toss it when you are done.
I like to put some flavor and moisture on the inside first, so slather on a light layer of the Herb and Garlic Butter!!!
Now spread a layer of stuffing all over leaving about an inch on all sides.
Cut your kitchen twine into about 6 or 7 pieces and about 10 in long each.
Start on the edge nearest you and tightly roll it up....squeezing in the stuffing as you go to make it tight. If you are doing this for the first time....I would suggest having an extra set of hands with you. You can roll it up and hold it together while the other is tying the kitchen twine around the meat. But if you do not have help just follow my pictures...start on one end, squeezing it together a section at a time. Tie it up and keep going till the end...... And do not worry, if some stuffing falls out....just pick it up and stuff it back it. Just make sure you are tying it tightly, keeping the strings very close together so it holds it all closed.
Trim the ends of the strings with a scissor, cutting them down as far as possible.
OK.....great!! The hard work is done. Now just turn it over and lay in a roasting pan that is drizzled with olive oil on the bottom. It will now be skin side up!!
Now rub the entire roll with the Herb & Garlic Butter. Last....drizzle the entire roll with olive oil and season generously with salt & pepper!!!
Put into a 375 degree oven for about 16 minutes per pound. Please use a meat thermometer to make sure the temp reaches 165 degrees. But my 4 lb stuffed breast will take approx 1 hour to 1 hour an 10 minutes. The skin should be nice and golden brown and crispy like this......
Beautiful!!! Now let it rest for a bit..... atleast 20 minutes before you cut into it. Before you slice it do not forget to cut the strings off with a scissor. Don't worry it will stay together!!!! Now slice it in about 2 in width slices. It will make approximately 18 to 20 slices.
There is also one big advantage to making this stuffed turkey breast......wait till you see what I do with them leftover!!!