Perfect Roast Beef^★

• 1½ kg topside of beef
• 2 medium onions
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks celery
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 bunch mixed fresh herbs , such as thyme, rosemary, bay, sage
• olive oil

Remove the beef from the fridge 30 minutes before you want to cook it, to let it come up to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/ gas 9.

Wash and roughly chop the vegetables – there’s no need to peel 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 oil.

Drizzle the beef with oil and season well with sea salt and black pepper, then rub all over the meat. Place the beef on top of the vegetables.

Place the tray in the oven, then turn the heat down immediately to 150°C/130°C fan and cook until the internal temp is 48°C

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 from 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 tin foil and a tea towel and leave aside while you make your gravy, horseradish sauce and Yorkshire puddings.

To Sear

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• large knob of butter

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottom frying pan until just smoking.

Remove from the heat, add butter and swirl until melted.

Place back on the heat and using a large pair of tongs or meat forks sear the roast on all sides until a nice golden crust forms.

Place back in the foil to rest again.