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1
Put oven rack in lower third of oven and preheat oven to 350F.
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2
Rinse turkey inside and out and pat dry.
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3
Working from neck (small) cavity, run your fingers between skin and meat to loosen skin from breast, legs, and thighs, being careful not to tear skin.
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4
Rub softened butter between skin and flesh, then sprinkle turkey cavities and skin with salt and pepper.
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5
Fold neck skin under body and secure with metal skewer and fold wing tips under breast.
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6
Stuff large cavity with onion and thyme sprigs and tie drumsticks together with kitchen string.
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7
Brush skin all over with some melted butter.
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8
Put turkey on rack in a large flameproof roasting pan and roast, basting with some melted butter and/or pan juices every 20 minutes (if turkey is browning too fast, cover loosely with foil), until thermometer inserted into fleshy part of a thigh (do not touch bone) registers 170F, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours.
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9
Carefully tilt turkey so any juices from inside large cavity run into roasting pan, then transfer turkey to a platter (do not clean roasting pan) and let stand, loosely covered, 30 minutes (temperature of thigh meat will rise to 180F).
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10
Cook sugar in a dry 1-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, undisturbed, until it begins to melt.
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11
Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a fork, until sugar is melted into a deep golden caramel.
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12
Add 1/2 cup pomegranate juice (use caution; mixture will bubble and steam vigorously) and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel is dissolved.
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13
Remove syrup from heat.
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14
Pour pan juices through a fine-mesh sieve into a 1-quart glass measure or bowl, then skim off fat and reserve 1/4 cup of it.
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15
Add enough turkey stock to pan juices to total 3 1/2 cups liquid.
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16
Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add water and deglaze pan by boiling over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, 1 minute.
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17
Pour through fine-mesh sieve into glass measure with stock.
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18
Whisk together reserved fat and flour in a 3-quart heavy saucepan and cook roux over moderately low heat, whisking, until pale golden, 7 to 10 minutes.
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19
Add hot stock mixture in a stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.
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20
Bring to a boil, whisking, and add pomegranate syrup, then reduce heat and simmer, whisking occasionally, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
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21
Stir in any turkey juices accumulated on platter and simmer gravy 1 minute.
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22
Season with salt and pepper and stir in remaining tablespoon pomegranate juice.
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23
Remove string and skewer from turkey and discard onion and thyme from cavity.
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24
Serve turkey with gravy on the side.
