Ina Garten-Inspired Turkey Roulade

Compiled by Igor Kukolj, Editor. Nobody here has cooked this — how these are made.

The whole reason to bone and roll a turkey breast is that a turkey breast is a bad shape.

It is thick at one end and thin at the other, so one part is always overcooked by the time the other is safe. Butterflying and pounding it to an even thickness removes that problem entirely — every part of the roll is the same depth, so every part finishes at the same moment. Roll it up without pounding and you have made a tidier version of the same uneven cut.

Two centimetres, everywhere. Use a heavy pan or a rolling pin, under cling film, working from the centre outwards.

The stuffing has to be cold

Warm stuffing starts the meat cooking from the inside while you are still tying it, and it also means the roll spends longer in the temperature range where bacteria multiply. Make the stuffing first, spread it on a tray, and chill it properly before it goes anywhere near the turkey.

Tie at even intervals, and tie it tight

String every 4 cm, starting at the ends and working in. A loosely tied roulade loses its shape in the oven and the stuffing escapes into the tin; a tightly tied one holds a perfect cylinder and slices into rounds. It should feel firm when you press it.

Roll it so the grain runs along the roll

Look at which way the muscle fibres run and roll along them, not across. When you then cut rounds off the finished roulade, every slice is automatically cut across the grain — which is what makes it tender. Roll the other way and every slice is with the grain.

Storing

Four days. It is excellent cold and slices beautifully straight from the fridge. Reheat slices in a little stock rather than dry in an oven.