Stuffed turkey with congrí

Kitchen, Main Course

Preparation Time:
300
Note:
At the Christmas Eve dinner, this used to be the star dish in Cuban households, but over time the tradition has slipped away. It’s now easier to find chicken or duck, which are also in high demand during this season. If you buy a frozen turkey, you should thaw it more than a day in advance. Remember that you can find all the recipes on our website.
Ingredients:

• 1 turkey

• 2 tablespoons of butter

Adobo

• 5 cloves of garlic

• 1 tablespoon of salt

• ½ teaspoon of pepper

• 1 teaspoon of cumin

• 1 teaspoon of oregano

• 1 sour orange

Filling

• 4 cups of congrí rice

• 200 grams of diced bacon

Instructions:

In a mortar, crush the garlic cloves with salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. Add the juice of the sour orange and rub the turkey inside and out with this marinade. Place the sliced onion on top and let it marinate for at least one night.

Prepare an Arroz Congrí. You can see our recipe by clicking here. Sauté bacon, and when it’s golden brown, mix it with the congrí.

Preheat the oven to 325ºF (170ºC - 180ºC).

Remove the turkey from the marinade and set the juices aside for baking later.

Stuff the turkey with the congrí and the diced fried bacon. To prevent the filling from spilling out, you can sew the opening with kitchen twine or secure it with wooden skewers to close the gap.

Place the turkey on the baking tray, spread butter on it, and add the marinade juice that you set aside.

Bake at 325ºF (180ºC) for two hours. Every 25 minutes, remove the turkey from the oven and baste it with the marinade juices in the tray; this will keep the meat moist. If you notice it drying out quickly, you can add a bit of dry wine or white wine.

Remember that cooking times depend on the weight of the turkey and the characteristics of the oven. To check if it's done, pierce it and observe if a thin stream of blood comes out. If so, you should continue cooking for another half hour.

It's a simple recipe, and you can change the filling with other ingredients, for example, a mixture of ground meat with small diced apples, raisins, and olives.

Enjoy your meal!

Rations:
10