Tacchino Arrosto in Forno | Roast Turkey
From The Talisman of Happiness by Ada Boni
Ingredients:
6 lb 10 oz young turkey
2 oz prosciutto in slices
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Optional: flour
Clean the turkey, rinse it, and dry it. Cover the turkey breast with thin slices of prosciutto kept in place with kitchen string. Season it with salt and pepper, put it in a roasting pan, brush with oil, and place in a preheated oven of moderate heat, calculating about 25 minutes per pound for cooking.
About 15 minutes before the end of cooking, remove the slices of prosciutto and let the breast brown
Ada says: A little secret to give the skin a magnificent golden color and a very appetizing crunch: When you have removed the slices of prosciutto and the turkey breast has started to color, sprinkle the breast with a little flour, and then collecting a little fat from the bottom of the pan with a spoon, baste slowly on the floured breast. Close the oven and after a few minutes repeat the operation, three or four times. When you baste with the fat, do it with the utmost delicacy so as not to wash off any flour.
A NATIONAL BESTSELLER
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The most iconic and beloved Italian cookbook ever published—a treasury of over 1,600 definitive regional recipes that inspired the worldwide bestseller The Silver Spoon—translated for the first time in full for the American kitchen.
In 1929, two years before The Joy of Cooking was published in America, and two decades before The Silver Spoon in Italy, Ada Boni wrote The Talisman of Happiness—the original must-have culinary bible for Italians. Generations of cooks have turned to “Il Talismano” as the definitive source for classic dishes that bring comfort, nostalgia, and deep pleasure—including the iconic Marcella Hazan, who used the book to teach herself how to cook. Cataloging all the flavors and traditions that define Italian cuisine, it quickly became a quintessential wedding gift: a talisman of luck for newlyweds beginning a new life. “There can be no true happiness,” Boni wrote, “if such an essential part of our daily lives as eating is neglected.”
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Boni wrote Talisman for anyone longing for a taste of the traditional, and included notes offering kitchen insights with the occasional bit of stern guidance. Whether you are a seasoned cook or are just beginning your culinary journey, Talisman offers the gift of good luck alongside timeless recipes that embrace the true spirit of Italian cuisine: cooking to feed the body and nourish the soul.