Classic Sunday roast beef

Rest it. Carve a roast the minute it leaves the oven and the juice ends up on the board. Fifteen minutes under foil keeps it in the meat.

Serves

4 people

Prep

15 minutes

Cook

1 hour 15 minutes

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From the shop

Start with a roasting beef, sold as a 1 kg piece. For eight or more, the 2 kg topside roast is the same method with a longer cook.

Take the beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes in the oven. A 1 kg roast at 180°C takes about 15 minutes per 500 g for medium rare after the first 20 minutes on high. A thermometer in the centre reading 55°C is medium rare; it climbs another 5 degrees while it rests.

Ingredients

• 1 kg roasting beef
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for the vegetables
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 sprigs rosemary, leaves chopped
• Salt and cracked black pepper
• 1 kg potatoes, peeled and halved
• 4 carrots, halved lengthways
• 2 tbsp plain flour and 500 ml beef stock, for the gravy

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Rub the beef with the oil, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper. Put it on a rack in a roasting tray.
2. Roast for 20 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180°C. Add the potatoes and carrots to the tray, tossed in a little oil and salt.
3. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes more for medium rare, until a thermometer in the centre reads 55°C.
4. Lift the beef onto a board. Cover loosely with foil. Rest for 20 minutes. Turn the oven up to 220°C and give the vegetables 15 minutes more to crisp.
5. Make the gravy in the tray: pour off all but 2 tbsp of fat, stir in the flour over medium heat for 1 minute, then whisk in the stock and simmer until thick.
6. Carve the beef thinly across the grain.

Serve it

Serve with the roast vegetables, gravy, and steamed greens or Yorkshire puddings.