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  • neck and giblets
    from your turkey
  • 4 chicken wings
    chopped into pieces (or 8 chicken wings if you don’t have the turkey neck and giblets)
  • 2 onions
    unpeeled and quartered
  • 1 carrot
    unpeeled and roughly chopped
  • 2 celery sticks
    roughly chopped
  • 1 garlic bulb
    halved
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1 tbsp clear honey
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 50g plain flour
  • small handful dried mushrooms
    (optional – but nice)
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
    or Sherry vinegar
  • 150ml port
    Sherry or red wine
  • 1.2l chicken stock
  • 3 bay leaves
  • small bunch thyme

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal144
  • fat3g
    low
  • saturates1g
  • carbs12g
  • sugars6g
  • fibre1g
  • protein9g
  • salt1.1g
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Method

  • step 1

    Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Tip the turkey bits and/or chicken wings into a sturdy roasting tin with the onions, carrot, celery and garlic. Toss in the oil and spread out into a single layer. Place in the oven for 40 mins undisturbed – you want them the right side of just burnt, as this will give you lots of flavour.

  • step 2

    Remove the tin from the oven and mix in the honey, soy sauce and tomato purée. Toss everything together until all the bits are completely coated, then return to the oven for 10 mins until sticky and caramelised. Remove the tin from the oven again, sprinkle over the flour and dried mushrooms (if using) and return to the oven for a final 10 mins.

  • step 3

    If your roasting tin is flameproof, put it on a low flame, add the vinegar and sizzle for a moment. Pour in the Port and cook until you have a thick, glutinous paste mixed in with all the ingredients – it will look quite messy! Add the stock and herbs, bring to the boil and cook for 10 mins. (If your tin isn’t flameproof, add the vinegar, stir to loosen all the burnt bits from the tin, then tip into a saucepan to continue.)

  • step 4

    Turn off the heat and use a potato masher to mash everything to extract as much flavour out of it as you can. Carefully pass the contents through a sieve over another saucepan, pushing down on the contents of the sieve. Simmer the gravy until thick and glossy, then leave to cool. Can be chilled for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Reheat the gravy and serve as it is, or add to the turkey roasting juices for even more flavour.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, November 2015

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Comments, questions and tips (15)

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A star rating of 5 out of 5.19 ratings

HolsWestwood

question

I've made this before, to serve with roast turkey (it's an AMAZING gravy!) This time, I plan to serve it with roast beef, adding in some of the beef juices from cooking. My question is: should I make the gravy with a beef stock? Or stick to chicken?

lvickg

Hands down the BEST gravy ever - I’ve done it every year for almost a decade and it’s the part of Christmas dinner I most look forward to. Don’t change a thing - it’s perfect as it is.

ade_in_the_kitchen avatar

ade_in_the_kitchen

I made this gravy a couple of days beforehand and the results were amazing, a really tasty, deep rich flavour enhanced our Christmas lunch.

thunder123

question

What's the best way to make this gravy gluten free?

goodfoodteam avatar
goodfoodteam

Hi, thanks for your question. You should be fine to swap the plain flour for a gluten free plain flour (we haven't tested it in this particular recipe but it usually works well). You'll also need a gluten free soy sauce (or gluten free tamari) and be sure to check your chicken stock is a gluten free…

ericagee

Just made this two days ahead and it is delicious - well worth the effort for a special gravy on Xmas day - let's face it we need anything to cheer us up this 2020 Xmas! I will add turkey juices on reheating but it's fab as it is

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