To make the stuffing, tear the bread into pieces and process in a food processor or blender until you have breadcrumbs. Place in a bowl.
In a small skillet, toast your walnuts over a medium heat until they become fragrant (2-4 minutes). Stir often to prevent them from burning. Finely chop the nuts and add the toasted nuts to the bowl with breadcrumbs. Add some olive oil to the same pan and sauté the onions for a few minutes until they become translucent.
Add the onions, thyme, sage, and chopped figs to the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pour in the melted butter. Stir to combine. If it appears dry add the stock one-tablespoon at a time until moist. This may take anywhere from 2 – 4 tablespoons of stock to make sure it is moist.
Place the turkey breast on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, slice it almost in half starting at the right side. Be very careful not to cut it all the way through and to keep the knife level so that the top and bottom end up an equal thickness. You want to keep the skin so if there is excess, don’t cut it off. Leave it and you’ll wrap it around the breast when you roll it.
Open the turkey breast like a book and lay flat on the cutting board. Using a meat mallet or tenderizer, pound the breast flat so that it is an even thickness all over.
Season liberally with salt and pepper.
Place stuffing on top of the breast and press down so that it sticks to the turkey. Leave a little room on the sides so when you roll the breast, you don’t lose a lot of the stuffing out of the sides. (You will definitely lose some stuffing, there is just no way around it, but you can put that in a side dish and bake it along side the turkey breast.)
Beginning at the short end, start rolling the turkey up. When you have a fully rolled breast, stretch any excess skin to cover the breast. Then, tie the breast together by tying kitchen twine in even intervals around the breast. I tie in little bows that make it easy to remove at the end. I also add one long string around the length of the breast to help keep it all together. This will keep the meat intact and keep the stuffing from falling out. Season the now wrapped turkey breast with more salt and pepper on all sides.
Place the breast on a flat rack in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet with at least a one inch rim that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Put in the oven and add a cup of hot water in the bottom of the baking sheet or roasting pan. This will steam and give the meat some moisture. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Brush with melted butter and continue baking for 15 more minutes. (If the breast is getting too dark, cover with tinfoil.) You want the turkey to reach 165 F. Check with your meat thermometer.
Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes covered with tin foil. Remove string and slice in rounds. Serve with my make ahead Mushroom Turkey Gravy or my Easy Turkey Gravy. Enjoy.
Looking for other poultry dishes you can serve for the holidays? Check out some of my favs:
Apricot Cornish Hens with Pecan Stuffing
Fig & Walnut Stuffed Turkey Breast
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ – 2 Lb. Boneless turkey breast
- 3 Slices of walnut bread processed into bread crumbs
- 2 Tbsp. Finely chopped walnuts
- 1/4 Cup Onion finely diced
- 1 Tbsp. Fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. Dried sage leaves
- 4 Dried figs; finely diced
- 2 – 4 Tbsps. of Turkey stock or broth
- 4 Tbsp. Butter melted
- Kosher Salt and Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Rip bread into pieces and process in a food processor or blender until you have breadcrumbs. Place in a bowl.
- In a small skillet, toast your walnuts over a medium heat until they become fragrant (2-4 minutes). Stir often to prevent them from burning. Finely chop the nuts and add the toasted nuts to the bowl with breadcrumbs.
- Add some olive oil to the same pan and sauté the onions for a few minutes until they become translucent.
- Add the onions, thyme, sage, and chopped figs to the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper to taste and pour in the melted butter. Stir to combine. If it appears dry add the stock one-tablespoon at a time until moist. This may take anywhere from 2 – 4 tablespoons of stock to make sure it is moist.
- Place the turkey breast on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, slice it almost in half starting at the right side. Be very careful not to cut it all the way through and to keep the knife level so that the top and bottom end up an equal thickness. You want to keep the skin so if there is excess, don’t cut it off. Leave it and you’ll wrap it around the breast when you roll it.
- Open the turkey breast like a book and lay flat on the cutting board. Using a meat mallet or tenderizer, pound the breast flat so that it is an even thickness all over.
- Season liberally with salt and pepper.
- Place stuffing on top of the breast and press down so that it sticks to the turkey. Leave a little room on the sides so when you roll the breast, you don’t lose a lot of the stuffing out of the sides. (You will definitely lose some stuffing, there is just no way around it, but you can put that in a side dish and bake it along side the turkey breast.)
- Beginning at the short end, start rolling the turkey up. When you have a fully rolled breast, stretch any excess skin to cover the breast. Then, tie the breast together by tying kitchen twine in even intervals around the breast. I tie in little bows that make it easy to remove at the end. I also add one long string around the length of the breast to help keep it all together. This will keep the meat intact and keep the stuffing from falling out. Season the now wrapped turkey breast with more salt and pepper on all sides.
- Place the breast on a flat rack in a roasting pan or on a baking sheet with at least a one inch rim that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Put in the oven and add a cup of hot water in the bottom of the baking sheet or roasting pan. This will steam and give the meat some moisture. Bake for approximately 45 minutes. Brush with melted butter and continue baking for 15 more minutes. (If the breast is getting too dark, cover with tinfoil.) You want the turkey to reach 165 F. Check with your meat thermometer.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 10 minutes covered with tin foil. Remove string and slice in rounds. Serve with my make ahead Mushroom Turkey Gravy or my Easy Turkey Gravy. Enjoy.
