Ingredients:

12 to 14 pound turkey with the giblets reserved

1 lemon, halved

salt and pepper

butter, melted

Meat Stuffing:

4 to 6 Tablespoons butter

2 onions, finely chopped

6 ounce lean ground lamb

reserved turkey heart and liver, finely chopped

1 pound fresh chestnuts

2 cups strained turkey broth

1/2 cup raw unprocessed rice

1 lamb liver, minced

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

Take fresh chestnuts and slit the base of each shell crosswise, boiled for 5 minutes, peel and break into small pieces.

To make broth: simmering the reserved turkey neck and gizzard in 3 cups water for 45 minutes, then strain turkey broth.

Wash the turkey in cold water, pat it dry inside and out, and leave it for 30 minutes while you cook your stuffing.

For the stuffing, heat the butter in a skillet and fry the onions until they begin to change color, then add the ground lamb and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the turkey heart and liver, the chestnuts, and pine nuts and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add the broth and bring this to a boil. Add the rice and cook quickly for 10 minutes, then add the lamb liver, bread crumbs, and apples. Stir well.

To stuff the turkey, slit the skin at the back of the neck and cut off the neck down to the turkey's shoulders if the neck has not already been removed. Lightly fill the cavity, remembering that the stuffing always swells and too much swelling might cause the neck skin to burst. Sew or pin with a skewer the neck flap to the back of the turkey. Just as lightly, fill the body cavity, and sew or skewer this together.

Tie the legs to the tail and fix the wings snugly to the body. Do not bring the cord across the breast lest it mark the skin. Rub the turkey cut with lemon, salt, pepper and melted butter and place it in a large, shallow pan in a moderate oven (preheat to 350 degrees, then lower temperature to 325 degrees). Roast it according to its weight when stuffed, allowing 25 to 30 minutes per pound.

Extra stuffing can be roasted in a pan for 45 minutes or so and served with the turkey. Or it can be made into rissoles by shaping it into small balls, dipping then into beaten egg and bread crumbs, and then frying them in butter, to be served as a garnish.

Serves: 15

• You found this recipe on 1st Traveler's Choice Internet Cookbook. (www.virtualcities.com)

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