Perfect Roast Beef
The centrepiece of a proper Sunday lunch — a well-rested joint with a deep, salty crust and a blushing interior.
Cook
1 hour 15 minutes
Serves
6
Difficulty
Moderate
A proper roast beef is one of the great centrepieces of a British-informed table, and the method is simpler than its reputation suggests. The keys are a good piece of meat, a very hot start, and the discipline to let it rest.
Take the beef from the fridge an hour before cooking so it comes to room temperature. This isn't fussiness; cold meat in a hot oven steams rather than roasts, and you lose the crust.
Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Pat the joint dry with paper towel, rub all over with mustard, then season generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. The mustard does little for flavour but helps the salt adhere and deepens the crust.
Roast at the high temperature for twenty minutes, then reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F) and continue cooking. Allow roughly fifteen minutes per 500g for medium-rare, twenty for medium. A thermometer is the reliable guide: 52°C for rare, 60°C for medium, well done is, frankly, a waste of good beef.
Rest the meat, loosely tented, for at least twenty minutes before carving. The juices redistribute; the temperature continues to rise a few degrees; the meat relaxes. Carve across the grain in thin slices.
Serve with the pan juices, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and a sharp horseradish cream.
Ingredients
- •1.5 kg (3 lb) beef top sirloin or rib roast, tied
- •2 tbsp Dijon mustard
- •1 tbsp coarse sea salt
- •2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- •2 tbsp olive oil
- •Sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme
Method
- 1.Remove the beef from the fridge one hour before cooking to bring it to room temperature.
- 2.Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
- 3.Pat the joint dry. Rub all over with mustard, then olive oil. Season generously with salt and pepper. Tuck the herb sprigs beneath the string.
- 4.Place on a rack in a roasting tin and roast at 220°C for 20 minutes.
- 5.Reduce the oven to 180°C (350°F) and continue roasting: allow 15 minutes per 500g for medium-rare.
- 6.Check the internal temperature: 52°C for rare, 60°C for medium.
- 7.Remove from the oven, tent loosely with foil, and rest for at least 20 minutes.
- 8.Carve across the grain in thin slices and serve with pan juices.
StorageLeftovers keep, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days. Excellent cold with mustard and bread.
Suggested SidesYorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, horseradish cream, greens.
Drink PairingA full-bodied red — Cabernet Sauvignon or a northern Rhône Syrah.
DietaryGluten-free
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