Butter-Basted Turkey with Lemon and Thyme

Easy enough, this recipe will only take you less then 30 minutes to prepare. You can still rest for two hours or more while waiting for your butter-basted turkey with lemon and thyme recipe to cook.

For a perfect recipe, your ingredients have to be complete. You will need 1 tbsp of chopped fresh thyme; 1 grated zest lemon; 110 grams of butter; 1 unpeeled and halved onion; 7lb (3.15 kilograms) of thawed turkey, and the giblets must be removed; 225 grams of streaky bacon; freshly ground black pepper; and salt.

Once all the ingredients are prepared, you’re ready for a butter-basted turkey cooking experience. First off, preheat the oven to 180C /350F/Gas 4. Mix butter, lemon zest and thyme together, and season with black pepper. Put the mixture between two layers of the greaseproof paper; then flatten it out. To make the mixture firm, chill it in the freezer for about five minutes. In the bird’s cavity, put the leftover lemon zest and onion. To loosen the skin of the bird’s breast, gently slide your fingers between its flesh and skin. Get the lemon butter and place the firm pieces in between the breast meat and skin of the turkey. Smooth the skin again; then tuck flap underneath. In an overlapping position, lay the bacon across the turkey’s top. Place the prepared mixtures in the roasting tin, loosely cover it with aluminium foil, and then cook for 20 minutes. Baste it after an hour, then after every 30 minutes, and recover with the foil. Remove the foil 30 minutes before the turkey becomes totally cooked. Finally, remove the turkey from the oven. To make it more presentable, place the prepared recipe on a platter; then decorate it with bay leaves, holly and fresh winter pansies.