Turkey Ballotine with Chestnuts

📝 Ingredients

• 900 g turkey escalopes (6 escalopes of about 150 g each)
• 300 g vacuum-packed cooked whole chestnuts
• 400 g button mushrooms
• 2 shallots (about 30 g each)
• 1 small bunch flat-leaf parsley (about 20 g)
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 3 tbsp olive oil (1 for the stuffing, 1 for the ballotines, 1 for the potatoes)
• 1200 g baby potatoes (about 40 g each)
• 1 chicken stock cube + 300 ml hot water
• 1 tsp cornflour + 1 tbsp cold water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Rolling pin
• Cling film
• Kitchen string
• Large frying pan
• Large baking dish
• Aluminium foil

📖 Steps

1. Make the stuffing: finely slice the shallots and cut the mushrooms into small dice. Heat 1 tbsp oil in the frying pan over a medium heat, sweat the shallots for 3 min, then add the mushrooms and cook for 10 min over a high heat, until all their liquid has evaporated.
2. Off the heat, add the chestnuts roughly crumbled with a fork, the chopped parsley, the thyme, salt and pepper. Leave to cool slightly for 10 min, then stir in the beaten egg: the stuffing should hold together when pressed. A stuffing that is still wet would make the meat soggy.
3. Place the escalopes one at a time between two sheets of cling film and flatten them with a rolling pin, tapping gently from the centre outwards, to about 5 mm thick. Season them lightly with salt and pepper on both sides.
4. On a large sheet of cling film, lay 3 escalopes side by side, overlapping them by 2 cm, to form a rectangle. Spread half the stuffing over them, leaving a 2 cm border free. Repeat with the other 3 escalopes and the rest of the stuffing.
5. Roll each rectangle up tightly, using the cling film to help but without rolling it into the meat, then remove the film and tie the ballotine with string every 3 cm. Preheat the oven to 190 °C. Halve the baby potatoes and toss them in the dish with 1 tbsp oil and salt.
6. Put the potatoes in the oven on their own for 10 min. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in the frying pan over a medium-high heat and brown the ballotines for 6 to 8 min, turning them, until coloured on all sides. Keep the pan and its juices for the gravy.
7. Place the ballotines among the potatoes and cook for 35 to 40 min at 190 °C, stirring the potatoes halfway through. The turkey is cooked when the juices that run out when you pierce the centre are clear (72 °C core temperature). Cover with foil and leave to rest for 10 min.
8. While it rests, dissolve the stock cube in the hot water and pour it into the frying pan over a medium heat, scraping up the caramelised bits, add the juices from the dish and leave to reduce for 5 min. Add the cornflour mixed with the cold water and cook for 1 min, stirring, until the gravy coats the spoon.
9. Remove the string, slice the ballotines into 2 cm rounds with a very sharp knife and serve immediately with the roast potatoes and the piping hot gravy, seasoned with pepper at the last moment.