Turkey Porchetta

Here we’re taking a turkey breast & prepping, flavouring & cooking it like an Italian porchetta. It’s juicy, tender & full of flavour!

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This turkey porchetta makes a fantastic alternative to your traditional roast turkey, whether that’s at Christmas, Thanksgiving or Easter! I first saw this style of turkey over on seriouseats.com, & I’ve put my own twist on it, in the style of my nduja porchetta!

A turkey porchetta (turketta) is a twist on the classic Italian porchetta that’s made with pork. Here, we’re taking a butterflied turkey breast, marinating it with all the traditional porchetta flavours (we’re talking fennel, salt, pepper, garlic, fresh herbs & citrus) then rolling it up in its’ own skin before cooking it nice & gently until the meat’s perfectly tender & moist and the skin is crisp & golden.

To make our turkey as juicy & flavourful as possible, we’re going to be basting it with a rosemary & thyme butter as it cooks. This amps up those porchetta flavours & helps us keep the turkey moist. There’s no dry turkey around here!

What Is Turkey Porchetta?

Turkey porchetta (or turketta) combines a traditional roast turkey with an Italian porchetta. Where a classic porchetta is made with pork belly (and sometimes loin), a turkey porchetta is made with a turkey breast.

Turkey porchetta is prepared the same way as a traditional pork porchetta, where the meat is butterflied & scored, marinated with salt, pepper, fennel, garlic, citrus & herbs, rolled up then slowly roasted until tender & moist. Although you won’t get crackling with a turkey porchetta, the skin is incredibly crisp & has this fantastic golden brown colour that makes this roast turkey look even more impressive!

For more festive recipes, take a look at our collection of Christmas recipes! There’s lots to choose from here, from festive main courses, classic desserts & all the trimmings.

What You’ll Need

• Turkey Breast – For this porchetta, you’ll need a boneless turkey breast with the skin on still. We’re using a 2.5 kg turkey breast which will yield 10 generous portions. You could use a larger turkey breast but keep in mind that it will take longer to cook.
• Salt – We’re using sea salt in the marinade which cures the meat. We’re also using table salt to season the outside of the porchetta before cooking (for the best crust!).
• Herbs – We’re keeping things traditional here & using fresh sage, rosemary & thyme for our porchetta marinade.
• Garlic – You can’t make porchetta without plenty of garlic! For a piece of turkey this size, I use 4 cloves of garlic but you could add more if you like.
• Citrus – You’ll need lemon & orange zest for the marinade.
• Fennel – Toasted & crushed fennel seeds are another classic porchetta flavour, so we’re using it for our turkey as well.
• Black Pepper – To give our porchetta the best flavour, we’re going to be crushing black peppercorns in a pestle & mortar.
• Oil – Adding a small amount of olive oil to the marinade makes it easier to spread over the meat.

How To Make Turkey Porchetta

The full, printable recipe card for this turkey can be found at the bottom of this post! Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe…

Porchetta Marinade

We’re making a classic porchetta marinade for our turkey (like the one in our nduja porchetta!). This flavours the meat but also acts like a cure, making the turkey more tender & juicy once cooked.

To make the porchetta marinade, we use a pestle & mortar to crush toasted fennel seeds & black peppercorns into a coarse powder then mix them with sea salt, grated garlic, chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme & sage), lemon & orange zest and olive oil. The marinade should be the consistency of a thick paste.

Turkey Prep

Prepping a turkey breast for porchetta can be broken down into a few simple steps; taking the skin off, butterflying the meat, scoring, applying the marinade, rolling & tying/trussing. The turkey prep is the part of this recipe that takes the most effort but take your time with it & it’s actually pretty easy!

Removing The Skin

The first step is to remove the skin from the turkey breast. We need to keep the skin as 1 whole piece so it’s important that we do this carefully (we’ll be using the skin to cover the top of the turkey when we roll it back up).

You should be able to simply pull the skin off the turkey breast by hand but if there’s any parts that won’t separate from the meat, use a sharp knife to release it.

Butterflying The Meat

Next, we flip the turkey breast over & remove the tenderloin (it should just pull off!). This can be set aside for another dish.

To butterfly the meat, we use a sharp knife to cut horizontally through the thick part of the breast, leaving around 1½ cm of meat uncut. Make sure not to cut all the way through! The meat should be an even thickness all over (around 3cm thick). If needed, you can use a meat tenderising hammer to flatten it out slightly, which you’ll need to do between 2 pieces of baking parchment.

Scoring The Meat

Now we use a sharp knife to lightly score the meat in a criss cross pattern. This allows more of the marinade into the meat, adding as much flavour as possible!

Applying The Marinade

We spoon the porchetta marinade over the scored meat then rub into the turkey with our hands (gloves come in handy here!).

Rolling & Tying

Next, we roll the turkey breast up into a tight log & set it seam side down on our chopping board. We then take the turkey skin from earlier & lay it over the top, making sure that it completely covers the top & sides of the meat.

Now we need to tie the meat up so that it keeps its’ shape as it cooks. To do this, we tie butcher’s twine horizontally along the length of the porchetta, leaving a couple of centimetres between each piece. I also like to run a long piece of twine along the length of the porchetta (on top & underneath), tucking it under & over each horizontal piece of twine & securing it at one end.

Make sure to tie the twine tight enough to secure the meat but not too tightly! We need to allow some space for the meat to expand slightly as it cooks.

Overnight Chill

Now that our porchetta is rolled & tied, we season the skin lightly with table salt then leave it in the fridge overnight, to marinade & cure. You can store the turkey like this for up to 2 days before cooking.

Cooking

The key to cooking juicy, tender turkey porchetta is to roast it low & slow. This brings the internal temperature up gently, preventing the meat from going dry! The only problem with a lower oven temperature is that the skin won’t crisp up properly. To get around this, we’re going to be searing the outside of the porchetta before roasting.

For even more flavour, we’re going to be basting the turkey with a rosemary & thyme butter as it cooks. To make this, we simply mix softened butter with finely chopped herbs, salt & pepper.

It’s best to take your turkey out of the fridge 30 minutes – 1 hour before cooking it, as this allows it to cook more evenly.

Searing

To sear the turkey, we first set a large frying pan/skillet over a high heat, add in a tablespoon of vegetable oil & leave it for a minute or two, to get smoking hot.

Next, we season the porchetta with salt & pepper then add into the hot pan & sear well on all sides. The crust should be golden brown & the skin should be crisp. This will take a couple of minutes on each side.

Roasting

Once seared, we transfer the turkey to a rack set inside a roasting tin, brush it with a generous amount of the herb butter then pop it into an oven that has been preheated to 150°c/302°f. We roast the turkey, basting with the butter & turkey juices from the pan every 30 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 71°c/160°f (in the centre). This will take around 2 hours.

Resting & Slicing

Once our porchetta is cooked, we brush it with the rest of the herb butter then let the meat rest for 30 minutes before slicing. Then to serve, we remove all of the twine then use a sharp knife to cut the turkey into thick slices.

Tips & Tricks

• Ask your butcher to debone your turkey for you. This makes preparing the porchetta a lot easier!
• Marinate your porchetta for at least 12 hours, for more tender & flavourful meat.
• Tie the turkey breast up with butcher’s twine so that it keeps its’ shape as it cooks. Don’t tie it too tightly though, we want to give the meat some space to expand slightly as it cooks.
• When cooking the porchetta, sear it in a pan first to crisp up the skin the roast at a low temperature to bring the meat up to temperature. This is key to keeping turkey moist.
• Baste the turkey with butter as it roasts, to keep it moist & to add flavour.
• Rest the porchetta for 30 minutes after cooking, for juicy, tender slices.

What To Serve With Turkey Porchetta

Turkey porchetta makes a fantastic alternative to a traditional roasted turkey at Christmas! It goes great with all the trimmings, including crispy roast potatoes, roasted veg & a rich homemade gravy. However, turkey porchetta also goes great in sandwiches (focaccia makes a great choice for the bread!), in pies or even on a pizza.

Frequently Asked Questions

Cooking Turkey Porchetta In An Aga

With all of my recipes, I include cooking instructions for conventional ovens, fan ovens & also Agas. Here’s how to cook this recipe in an Aga…

Use the boiling plate to sear the turkey. Roast the turkey on the bottom set of runners in the baking oven, with a cold plain shelf set as close to the turkey as you can, without letting it touch.

Equipment Used

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• Thermapen Food Probe
• Roasting Tin (With Rack)
• Butcher’s Twine
• Pestle & Mortar

More Christmas Recipes To Try!

• Cherry Cola Ham With Hot Honey Glaze
• Caramelised Onion & Cranberry Gravy
• Mulled Cider Roasted Pork Belly
• Marmalade Glazed Carrots
• Christmas Gravy
• Boozy Cranberry & Orange Sauce

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