Sunday roast

Ingredients

Beef

• 2.2 kgbeef sirloin or rib of beef on the bone, at room temperature 2 hours
• 2 tbspbeef dripping
• 1 tbspEnglish mustard powder
• Flaky salt and coarse black pepper
• 2onions, halved, and 3 carrots, halved lengthways, as a trivet

Roast potatoes

• 1.5 kgMaris Piper potatoes, peeled and cut into large even chunks
• 150 gbeef dripping or goose fat
• 1 tbspsemolina
• Salt

Yorkshire puddings

• 140 gplain flour
• 4large eggs
• 200 mlwhole milk
• ½ tspsalt
• 4 tbspbeef dripping

Gravy and vegetables

• 2 tbspplain flour
• 200 mlred wine
• 700 mlbeef stock
• 1 tspredcurrant jelly
• 500 gcarrots and 400 g green cabbage or Savoy, for boiling
• 300 gBrussels sprouts, in season
• Horseradish sauce, to serve

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 240°C (475°F). Rub the beef with dripping, mustard powder, salt and pepper and set it on the onion and carrot trivet in a roasting tin.
2. Roast 20 minutes at 240°C (475°F) to build a crust, then drop to 180°C (350°F) and give it 15 minutes per 500 g for rare, 18 for medium rare. Pull it at 52°C (125°F) internal for rare, 57°C (135°F) for medium rare.
3. Whisk the Yorkshire batter smooth and leave it to stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes, ideally an hour.
4. Parboil the potatoes in salted water 8–10 minutes until the edges yield to a knife, drain and shake them hard in the colander until the outsides are rough and floury, then dust with the semolina.
5. Rest the beef, loosely tented, for a full 30 minutes on a warm plate. Turn the oven up to 220°C (425°F). Resting is not optional; carving early empties the juices onto the board.
6. Roast the potatoes in the smoking hot dripping for 45–55 minutes, turning twice, until deep bronze and audibly crisp.
7. Get the dripping in the Yorkshire tin smoking hot, pour the batter in to two thirds full and bake 20–25 minutes at 220°C (425°F) without opening the door until risen, hollow and crisp-walled.
8. Make the gravy in the roasting tin: spoon off the fat, mash the trivet vegetables, stir in the flour, cook 2 minutes, deglaze with the wine and reduce by half, then add the stock, the resting juices and the redcurrant jelly and simmer 10 minutes. Strain.
9. Boil the carrots and cabbage in salted water until just tender, carve the beef across the grain, and serve everything together with horseradish and plenty of gravy.

Technique

• The Yorkshire pudding needs three things: a rested batter, a smoking hot fat, and a door that stays shut. Opening the oven collapses them.
• Roughing up the parboiled potatoes creates the broken starch surface that fries into the crust; smooth potatoes never crisp properly.
• Rest the meat as long as it roasted per 500 g, up to 30–40 minutes. A large joint loses very little heat and gains hugely in tenderness.

Substitutions

• Leg or shoulder of lamb with mint sauce, or pork loin with crackling and apple sauce, are equally traditional Sunday joints; only beef gets Yorkshire pudding by strict custom.
• No dripping? Use goose fat for the potatoes and a neutral oil with a high smoke point for the Yorkshires; the flavour is less beefy but the crisp is the same.

Variations

• Roast chicken with bread sauce and bacon rolls, the cheaper weekly version.
• Sunday roast with cauliflower cheese on the side, standard in much of northern England.
• The pub carvery plate, where the Yorkshire pudding is served giant and filled with the whole dinner.

History

Roasting a joint after church spread in Georgian and Victorian Britain, when families left meat in the village baker’s cooling oven during the service.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sunday roast?

Sunday roast is a main from United Kingdom: roast meat with potatoes, vegetables, Yorkshire pudding, gravy. Roasting a joint after church spread in Georgian and Victorian Britain, when families left meat in the village baker’s cooling oven during the service.

How long does Sunday roast take to make?

Sunday roast takes 40 min of preparation and 2 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Sunday roast?

Yes, within limits. Leg or shoulder of lamb with mint sauce, or pork loin with crackling and apple sauce, are equally traditional Sunday joints; only beef gets Yorkshire pudding by strict custom. No dripping? Use goose fat for the potatoes and a neutral oil with a high smoke point for the Yorkshires; the flavour is less beefy but the crisp is the same.

What is the most important thing to get right in Sunday roast?

Rest the beef, loosely tented, for a full 30 minutes on a warm plate. Turn the oven up to 220°C (425°F). Resting is not optional; carving early empties the juices onto the board.