Roast Turkey Stuffed With Cranberries, Pecans & Thyme

Preheat oven to 200°C /180°C fan-forced. Line a large roasting pan with baking paper.

Place fennel seeds in a large frying pan over low heat. Cook for 2 minutes or until toasted. Add onion, garlic and 150g butter, then cook for 5 minutes or until onion has softened. Transfer mixture to a large heatproof bowl. Add cranberries, bread, pecans and half of the thyme to bowl. Season well and stir until well combined. Reserve one-third of the stuffing, then place remaining stuffing in a separate bowl, mixing in egg and stock until well combined.

Place remaining butter in a small saucepan over low heat for 5 minutes or until melted. Pat turkey dry, inside and out, with paper towels. Loosely fill front and back cavities with stuffing mixture. Secure front cavity with toothpicks, and secure legs with string. Tuck wings under turkey, then place turkey in pan and brush with melted butter. Cover with baking paper, then foil.

Bake turkey for 2 hours 40 minutes (allow 40 minutes per kilogram), basting every 30 minutes or until turkey is golden and juices run clear when thigh is pierced. Remove baking paper and foil for the last 30 minutes of baking to brown the skin. Reserve 2 tbs pan juices for gravy.

Scatter reserved stuffing around turkey in the last 15 minutes of cooking. Cover loosely with foil and rest for 20 minutes.

To make gravy, place pan juices and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Sprinkle over flour, stirring with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cook for 2 minutes or until bubbling. Remove pan from heat and gradually add stock, stirring constantly.

Return pan to medium heat and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until boiling. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until gravy thickens. Scatter remaining thyme over stuffing. Serve turkey with stuffing and gravy.