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beef
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Perfect roast beef
© David Loftus

perfect roast beef

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I’ve used a joint of topside here because it is by far the most widely available roasting joint, but you can also use rib of beef.The meat has to be rested after cooking for at least half an hour and sliced really thinly for you to enjoy the tenderness. The timings below are just a guide, as they can differ depending on the type of oven you have or the size of the joint.

To prepare your beef:
• Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes into the oven
• Preheat your oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9
• There’s no need to peel the vegetables – just give them a wash and roughly chop them
• Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled
• Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil
• Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the meat
• Place the beef on top of the vegetables

To cook your beef:
• Place the roasting tray in the preheated oven
• Turn the heat down immediately to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef
• If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier
• For well done, leave it in for another 10 to 15 minutes
• If you’re doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them – get them into the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking
• Baste the beef halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning
• When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so
• Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside while you make your gravy, horseradish sauce and Yorkshire puddings


• from Jamie's Ministry of Food




ingredients


• 1.5kg topside of beef
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 1 bulb of garlic
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

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tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...
1. by Mel on Sun 12 Feb 2012 @ 09:58

I have made this twice now, both times a complete success! I think the secret is in the resting, I rested the first time overnight for lunch the following day and just now I rested it 2 hrs. There is nothing wrong with topside beef, very lean and cheap! Thanks Jamie<br />

2. by Kirstey on Sat 28 Jan 2012 @ 21:08

My first attempt at doing at roast beef was a great success thanks to this simple but delicious recipe! I stuck to the instructions bar adding some parsnips to the vegetable mix.... Great encouragement to keep trying more dishes! Thanks Mr O!

3. by Sandra on Sun 22 Jan 2012 @ 16:13

Tried this today with small variations regarding vegetables... DELICIOUS! I used topside beef and it was tender and perfectly cooked in an hour like the recipe says. Will make again and may have even becom a JO convert.

4. by Sue on Mon 16 Jan 2012 @ 19:20

Does anyone know how many people this recipe is for please....?

5. by Marly on Sat 14 Jan 2012 @ 01:56

Absolutely beautiful. <br />

6. by Paul on Mon 09 Jan 2012 @ 15:03

Just cooked my 1300g topside joint as the video shows and it came out rubbery on the outside and completely raw in the middle!<br /> <br /> I've put it back in for a while longer but I can tell it's gonna be tough as leather as always!!!!<br /> <br /> Does anyone know how to cook topside properly????

7. by paul on Mon 09 Jan 2012 @ 12:15

The beef looks raw!

8. by philip on Sun 08 Jan 2012 @ 11:37

SUPERB Jamie made it the weekend.

9. by Navegante on Thu 05 Jan 2012 @ 23:48

Hecha en Washington con un Roast beef round eye; salió excelente!!!<br /> <br /> Thanks

10. by Caroluvs2cook on Mon 02 Jan 2012 @ 04:36

Made this recipe tonight for group of basketball team friends. Most went for seconds or thirds, need I say more! <br /> <br /> Thanks Jaime I knew I could count on your recipe. My husband never changes the channel when he knows its you, cause he gets all the benefits with all the recipes I try on him! The only differnce is I added home grown bell peppers!<br /> <br /> This recipe was the bomb!<br /> <br /> Cheers and Happy New Year!

11. by Mike Cresswell on Sun 01 Jan 2012 @ 15:22

Jamie<br /> A wonderful and delicious recipe for roast beef. I followed your instructions to the letter and all was perfect. However, I added parsnip, turnip, swede, leeks and the potatoes and served with broccoli. It was a perfect blend of flavors and extremely tasty.<br /> <br /> Thank you.<br /> <br /> Mike

12. by graham on Fri 30 Dec 2011 @ 17:23

good luck Claire Bear ! I will be cooking this on NYD so please let us know your thoughts !

13. by Claire Bear on Fri 30 Dec 2011 @ 12:35

Just trying this one now. I only hope that the recipe is better than the hundreds of pounds i have spent on your pans!!! They were good at first but after 12 months are useless!!! Nowhere seems to accept an email about this though so had to post on here!!!

14. by jerena on Tue 27 Dec 2011 @ 12:37

Jamies great,<br /> I love how he cooks, I am going to have a try on cooking roast beef to day, and follow jamies reciipe, wish me luck.<br /> thank you jamie<br /> jerena

15. by sean on Sun 25 Dec 2011 @ 00:47

jamie, give up cooking you twat

16. by olly on Fri 23 Dec 2011 @ 10:27

for fruit use cranberries, either stew your own or use a jam/ jelly. mix in the herbs you want salt and pepper and a bit of red wine to make it a bit more runny.<br /> either put it under the meet or you can use it as a glaze.<br /> enjoy and hppy xmass

17. by olly on Fri 23 Dec 2011 @ 09:59

Fruit @ xmas - Cranberries are very seasonal tase. either stew your own/ put them in the base with the veg or use a jam/ jelly mixed with a bit of olive oil, a bit of red wine to make them a bit runnier, some herbs of your choice and bitof pepper and salt. works as a lovely glaze over any meat.<br /> enjoy and happy Xmas.

18. by Owl on Thu 22 Dec 2011 @ 11:30

Sounds lovely, the problem is we all love fruity meats in my home. I'm having a hard time finding out which fruit goes with beef. I'm just learning to cook tbh and recently made a pork roast with peaches and juice etc to baste it with and it went down amazingly well. Now for xmas I'd love to add a fruity taste to the beef roast. Does anyone have any idea's?

19. by Esmeralda on Sun 04 Dec 2011 @ 12:26

Do you not need to cover the beef with tinfoil to have enough meat juices for the gravy?

20. by Gloyns on Sat 19 Nov 2011 @ 23:23

For those asking, 1.5kg should do you alright for 5-7 people

21. by trish on Thu 17 Nov 2011 @ 13:46

how many does this recipe serve?

22. by Monique on Sun 13 Nov 2011 @ 19:26

An American in the UK making an 'english roast beef' for the first time -- this was wonderful and so simply done! Thank you!

23. by lily on Sun 30 Oct 2011 @ 11:50

Help! I've a big roast 4 kg. How do o work out the<br /> timings

24. by Diego on Mon 24 Oct 2011 @ 17:59

It might sound like a stupid question to expert cooks, but how am I supposed to baste the beef half way through cooking?

25. by Jill on Mon 03 Oct 2011 @ 18:44

I used this to cook a silverside of beef - it was PERFECT! And I mean, perfect. I'd never cooked a roast before and wanted to be armed with a recipe before I started. I swapped the celery for parnsips (not a celery fan) and just used rosemary when it came to the herbs. I also followed up comment No.17 for the gravy recipe and found Jamie's "consistently good gravy" recipe and used that - it was gorgeous! Not a meaty gravy but much more about the flavors of the vegetables if that's important to you. Recipe definitely saved for the future!

26. by judy on Wed 28 Sep 2011 @ 01:53

Just done this. First time in years I've cooked roast beef since I've just started eating meat again after years as a pescatarian. Got terrific results with a bargain 2kg topside joint from the Co-op. Did timings recommended by the Beef - thanks- which work out same as Jamie's BTW - but added 5 mins as I took the string off the meat and it was quite thick so I was worried about cooking it thru. Result was lovely tender rare beef. If I bought what's left over as cold cuts from the supermarket it would prob cost twice what I paid for the whole piece.<br /> Oh and Dee I don't think calories should be much of an issue. There is only a drizzle of oil. If you have meat and veg should be pretty low and lots of protein of course to fill you up. Just go easy on the gravy and roasties!

27. by tat on Mon 12 Sep 2011 @ 16:17

Just trying this now. I am a massive fan of Jamie's - because he is actually changing children's lives by empowering caregivers who may not have been thought the right cooking skills. x

28. by Dannydix on Tue 30 Aug 2011 @ 08:03

I just run up this recipe and threw it in the oven.<br /> <br /> Yum.<br /> <br /> Swilling some red and basting the roast while my stomach is trying to rip my liver out and eat it.<br /> Jeez I'm hungry just looking at it.. Might have to be a bit rare me thinks. Lol

29. by jay on Sun 28 Aug 2011 @ 15:51

cooked this for the in-laws, knocked em bandy ! my shopping bill just doubled in size cos i have to try more lol

30. by barbara roberts on Sun 14 Aug 2011 @ 21:41

Followed this recipe for the beef alone , omitting ALL the veg. Meat was bought from a local butcher, who still "hangs" meat. It was the best beef I have ever cooked, medium rare and really tender. Rested it for a full half hour though. Really impressed some first time Italian guests. Cheers for this one - you can't go wrong!

31. by Vetti on Sun 14 Aug 2011 @ 03:47

Actually, Jinnie, in Jamie's roasts the veges under the meat are often used to make the sauce or gravy (as others have suggested below), which is why they are roughly cut and not peeled. Some people come to this site to learn how to cook things they have never tried to make before, its not particularly helpful to be calling learners 'fools'.<br />

32. by Jinnie on Thu 04 Aug 2011 @ 04:54

Are some of you seriously asking what to do with the 'leftover' veges in the pan??!? You EAT them you fools. Serve them with the beef. /facepalm

33. by Andy Wilson on Thu 21 Jul 2011 @ 19:24

Great way to cook the Beef, whent down a treat in my house !!

34. by Russ on Sun 26 Jun 2011 @ 05:26

Could you please tell me why the answers to the questions asked are not displayed for all to see. Would be very helpful. Cheers<br />

35. by Meg on Sun 19 Jun 2011 @ 09:05

hi, i haven't done this just yet - with the veggies - do you add all of them in in the beginning - which ones are the ones you add after the roast has been cooking? <br /> <br /> also - how do you eat the veggies like the onions if you don't peel them? does the peel fall off once its cooked?<br /> <br /> thanks meg

36. by kitty on Sun 22 May 2011 @ 21:53

I've never cooked roast beef before, tried this and it worked brilliantly!<br /> Whacked the temperature up in my electric oven to 240 and preheated it til the light went out. Forgot to take the beef out of the fridge and leave it for 30mins (oh well) Prepared the beef, just like it said with the chopped veg etc (Only had dried Thyme and fresh parsley so use that) and it was Fan-Bliming-Tastic!!!<br /> No Faffing about, tender meat and the flavor of the beef is awesome, we ate the carrots and onions from the veg, then mixed the rest in a gravy. I will definitely be doing this one again.

37. by gabriela on Thu 19 May 2011 @ 09:23

Hi, can i use sunflower oil instead of olive oil????????

38. by della on Sun 08 May 2011 @ 15:22

First time tried this recipe...brilliant result.

39. by The Beef on Sun 08 May 2011 @ 08:05

Works best for me countless times.<br /> <br /> Rare - 20 minutes per 500g plus 20 minutes extra.<br /> Medium - 25 minutes per 500g plus 25 minutes extra.<br /> Well Done - 30 minutes per 500g plus 30 minutes extra

40. by LadyB on Sat 30 Apr 2011 @ 20:06

Second time doing this- it turns out beautifully <br /> expecting to feed ourselves, daughter son in law and grandchild and still have some for butties lol<br /> <br /> used organic beef and veggies

41. by Elizabeth on Fri 15 Apr 2011 @ 20:35

/quote/<br /> How about telling us how long it takes if your beef doesn't weight exactly 1.5Kg ?! <br /> /quote/<br /> <br /> Or how about just dividing the time by whatever weight you want to cook?

42. by Dee on Sun 03 Apr 2011 @ 12:54

The left over vegetables & garlic & beefy juices make an amazing gravy if you pop some hot water & a smidgin of flour to thicken in the tray and put it all on the hob then you can smush up all the veg and strain it all through a sieve & pour it over your roast. YUM YUM! You can do the same thing with any roast :) i did it with chicken and it was LAVLY!

43. by Graeme on Mon 28 Mar 2011 @ 00:56

Eat the veggies!!! why would you waste them.....?

44. by brian on Sun 27 Mar 2011 @ 17:50

Jamie I think you should take up teaching in a secondary school full time !<br /> <br /> <br /> Brian

45. by leather on Sun 13 Mar 2011 @ 20:07

jamie another good tip. i should be ashamed, registered since november. i've got no excuse now.x

46. by Mustapha Akbarally on Wed 22 Dec 2010 @ 05:46

Luved the way the food turned out. Thks.

47. by kelly on Mon 20 Dec 2010 @ 20:03

What do u do with the vegies at the bottom of the tray? Is that just for flavour??

48. by Sean on Mon 20 Dec 2010 @ 11:20

What is done with the leftover vegies and unpeeled garlic in the bottom of the pan after cooking?

49. by Shehara on Mon 20 Dec 2010 @ 07:57

could you please help me in knowing how to make the vegetables inside,tied and roasted beef. Because,I found that kind of recipe in a book. But, I was unable to get it because of the language barrier. I hope that you will help me in this task.

50. by jo on Thu 16 Dec 2010 @ 22:45

does anyone know how many this serves?

51. by Hughieb on Thu 16 Dec 2010 @ 20:43

Simple and too good to waste, every bite a moment of food pleasure. Thank you Jamie.

52. by Anne on Tue 14 Dec 2010 @ 11:56

@Tim; just buy a meat thermometer; it measures the temperature within the meat so you don't have to take all these different factors into account

53. by OLGA on Mon 13 Dec 2010 @ 14:45

also delicious!!!!!!! when i look at this beef i just want to grab it and eat it throw the pc :-p
You should come in Romania, cuz we have an great chitchen and very tasty food, wich is also naturally. have u heard of SARMALE CU MAMALIGA ?well this is the best of our food, it's kind of traditionall recipe and the famous MICI with mustard and beer...this is fabulous. in our country we eat a lot of pork meet and we are not very fat :-p and the people, including me ofc, we like to make food with a lot of oil, which i know that is not soooo healthy but we have a lot of vegetables that are very naturally and we don't put in them conservants and other stuff....there are fresh and even if there are litlle, are good and when u take an byte from an tomato is just wonderfull cuz u can feel the taste, the natural taste....it will be awseome if you will visit our country , a lot of people buys your book and you are very popular here..so we are waiting for you!!!
OLGA, from Romania kiss u

54. by Tim on Sun 12 Dec 2010 @ 10:54

How about telling us how long it takes if your beef doesn't weight exactly 1.5Kg ?!

55. by Dee on Fri 26 Mar 2010 @ 15:16

Looks good but how many Calories are in this and how many FAT Calories is in it most importantly?
Anyone know?

56. by Dan on Sun 14 Mar 2010 @ 21:15

Agreed, this is spot on - was my first time doing roast beef and it came out perfectly - a cracking recipe. Cheers Jamie!

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