A French-Inspired Christmas Turkey Roast

Herb-buttered, bacon-wrapped and beautifully golden, with a silky white wine and tarragon sauce.

There's a particular kind of Christmas dinner we love best: the one that looks effortlessly elegant but really is simple to pull off. This is it.

We've taken our free range bronze breast roast and given it a little French flair. Fragrant herb butter melts into the meat, smoked bacon adds a savoury blanket, and a velvety white wine and tarragon sauce is made from the roasting juices. It's made to impress and destined to delight, and it's easy to carve, so everyone gets a perfect slice.

Our award-winning turkeys are raised slowly on our Berkshire farm, then dry-plucked and game-hung for flavour. A bird like that doesn't need much help. So, as ever, we're keeping it simple: no basting, no foil and no flipping.

Prep: 25 minutes | Cook: 50 minutes-2½ hours, depending on size | Rest: 30 minutes minimum | Serves: depends on the size of your roast. Our turkey calculator will work it out for you.

What you'll need

For the roast

• 1 Copas Free Range Bronze Breast Roast (our Free Range Bronze Turkey Crown works beautifully too)
• 100g unsalted butter, softened
• 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh herbs: tarragon, flat-leaf parsley and chives
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• Flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 8-10 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
• 2 shallots, halved
• 1 small head of garlic, halved across the middle
• A few sprigs of thyme

For the white wine and tarragon sauce

• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 200ml dry white wine
• 400ml good chicken stock
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 3 tbsp crème fraîche
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
• A knob of cold butter

Method

1. Let it come to room temperature. As soon as your turkey arrives, take it out of the box and keep it in the fridge. Then take it out 2 hours before cooking. It saves cooking time and oven energy. Heat your oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4.

2. Make the herb butter. Beat the softened butter with the tarragon, parsley, chives, thyme, garlic, lemon zest and Dijon until smooth and speckled with green.

3. Dress the roast. Remove the plastic packaging, but leave the netting on. Rub the herb butter generously all over the roast, easing a little under the skin if there is any. Season well with salt.

4. Add the bacon. Lay the streaky bacon across the top in overlapping rashers, tucking the ends under. It adds flavour as it cooks and turns a deep, glossy golden.

5. Set it up. Scatter the shallots, halved garlic and thyme sprigs into the foil tray provided or a roasting tin, and sit the turkey on top. Insert the pop-up timer into the thickest part of the breast.

6. Roast. Roast uncovered at 180°C. Remember, no basting and no foil. As a guide, a 1kg roast takes about 50 minutes, 2kg about 80 minutes, 3kg about 110 minutes and 4kg around 140 minutes or more. Take it out as soon as the thickest part reaches 68°C and the timer has popped. Cooking times vary by oven, so keep an eye on it. For more tips, see our full Cook & Carve guide.

7. Start the sauce. About 20-30 minutes before the end of cooking, pour the white wine and stock into the tin. This lifts all the gnarly bits and starts your jus, and helps clean the tin too.

8. Rest. Cover loosely with foil or a clean tea towel and rest for at least 30 minutes. The turkey will keep cooking in the residual heat without overcooking, and should reach 70°C for at least 2 minutes. Don't skip this step.

9. Finish the sauce. Strain the juices into a pan, pressing the shallots and garlic to extract every drop of flavour. Add the chopped shallots and simmer for 8-10 minutes until reduced and glossy. Whisk in the Dijon, then the crème fraîche and tarragon. Finish with a knob of cold butter and season to taste.

10. Carve and serve. Remove the netting and carve into generous slices. Fan them on a warm platter and spoon over a little sauce, bringing the rest to the table in a jug.

What to serve alongside

Keep the sides simple and let the roast take centre stage:

• Roast potatoes in Copas goose fat, crisp and golden
• Pigs in blankets, because it wouldn't be Christmas without them
• Buttered Chantenay carrots with thyme
• Garlicky green beans or Savoy cabbage with chestnuts
• Cranberry sauce and bread sauce, for a proper British touch. Find these and more in our Christmas trimmings.

A few Tips

• Salt generously. It's the simplest way to bring out the flavour.
• Make the herb butter ahead. It keeps in the fridge for 3 days or freezes for up to a month.
• Make the most of leftovers. Cold slices make a brilliant Boxing Day sandwich with Dijon and cranberry sauce, or stir them through a creamy tarragon pasta. For more ideas, explore our Leftovers Cookbook.