Walnut & Wild Mushroom Turduken (3-bird roast)

A Turducken is not so well known in Europe but a great favourite back home in South Africa. You can de-bone all the birds yourself, but it is very tricky, so I would suggest asking your local butcher to do this for you.  What is a Turduken? Check it out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken. It is so easy to assemble and is delish!  Here we go ...

3.5kg turkey, de-boned and butterflied
1.5kg chicken, de-boned and butterflied
1 duck breast, skin removed
2 shallots, chopped
2 tbsp thyme
1 carrot, roughly chopped
50g butter, softened
1 glass white wine

For the stuffing:
25g dried porcini mushrooms
2 shallots, finely chopped
1 tbsp thyme, chopped
100g walnuts, chopped
200g good pork sausages, skin removed
2 tbsp parsley, roughly chopped
Zest 1 lemon
2 tbsp breadcrumbs

For the stuffing:
Soak mushrooms in 300ml boiling water, cover and stand for 30 min.  Drain and reserve liquid (for gravy).  Finely chop mushrooms.  Heat a little butter in a pan and fry shallots for 1 min.  Add mushrooms and cook for another 2 min.  Add all other stuffing ingredients and set aside.

To assembly the roast:
Heat over to 190'c
Open turkey, skin side down
Place 1/3 stuffing on top and spread evenly
Place duck breast on top in the middle
Spread a 1/3 of stuffing over breast
Place chicken, skin side down on top of everything
Add the last 1/3 of stuffing and spread evenly
Tuck the top and bottom and pull the long sides together
Tuck one long edge over the other and tightly secure roll with some butcher string (2 pairs of hands here makes it easier)
Scatter shallots, thyme and carrot at the bottom of a large roasting pan (disposable works well)
Place roast on top of veg and brush with melted butter
Pour wine in the pan and season generously with salt & pepper
Cook for  2hrs (needs to reach 68' - 70'c with a thermometer)
Remove from oven, cover with foil a rest for 30 min

I use the mushroom reserved liquid with store-bought packet gravy - no one know the difference!

Enjoy!