Smoked Holiday Turkey

My father first did this years ago and perfected it over time. He made the mistake of giving them for gifts one year and was swamped with so many requests that he had to stop doing it. This has been the standard turkey at our family's holiday dinners for 25 years.

• Ready In: 4 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  large turkey
• 1⁄2 cup  minced onion
• 1⁄8 cup  minced garlic
• 1  tablespoon  minced rosemary
• 1  tablespoon fresh black pepper
• 2  teaspoons paprika
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1⁄3 cup olive oil
• 2  large onions, quartered
• 1  small rosemary, branch whole (optional)

Directions

1. In a bowl mix minced onion, garlic, rosemary, pepper, 1 tsp paprika, salt and enough olive oil to create a thick paste consistency.
2. Clean turkey and prepare for smoker breast up. With a paring knife or other small knife, make incisions straight down into the meat and to the bone, about 1 to 1.5 inches long. You can gouge the holes out deeper below the surface by wiggling the knife to make a larger cavity if you wish. Do this all over the turkey, in any place that you can make a hole and pack some of the mix into the cut, about 1.5 to 2 inches apart.
3. Use a spoon and fingers to pack all of the holes with your mix, stuffing them to the top of the hole.
4. Quarter onions and pack them with the rosemary sprigs inside the turkey cavity.
5. With your hands, coat the turkey on the outside completely with olive oil, and then dust down fairly heavily with paprika. Tie the legs together with string.
6. Place on smoker and smoke as you usually would, about 4 to 5 hours in my particular smoker.