Pesto and butter-basted smoked turkey breast with glazed carrots, risotto and au jus.
4:45 a.m., turkey on!
The idea here was to loosen the skin and put a 50/50 mixture of butter and homemade pesto underneath that would baste the 23-lb. breast as it cooked. Have you ever tried this? I gave up on trying to prise the skin off right away, and decided to cut pockets, instead.
When the temperature hit 150f, I glazed the bird with the salted honey sauce I had leftover from this cook - about every 8-10 minutes.
I pulled the breast when it reached 160f, covered it in foil and a heavy towel and let it rest for 1/2 hour. It took 8 hours in all to cook.
For six people, one side of the breast was more than enough.
Moist and tender, with a slight smokiness and aroma of pesto/summer.
The choicest pieces were those that had the melted cheese from the pesto.
Nice, simple weekend meal with friends. I invite you to try pesto butter under the skin of any poultry. They have real synergy.
