Why the Sunday roast still earns its place at the table

The Sunday roast is less a recipe than a piece of choreography. Get the order of operations right and it becomes one of the most relaxed meals you can cook at home: a joint doing its thing in the oven, potatoes crisping beneath it, vegetables ticking along on the hob, and twenty minutes of enforced rest at the end when everything comes together. The trick is working backwards from the time you want to sit down, and using your oven's heat for more than one job at once.

What follows is the method I use most weekends, with the timings that actually matter and the small decisions that separate a good roast from a great one.

Choose your joint and get the temperature right

Buy the best meat you can afford and let it come up to room temperature for half an hour before it goes in. Season generously all over, and use a digital probe rather than trusting the clock alone.

• Beef (topside, sirloin or rib on the bone): blast at 240°C for 20 minutes, then drop to 190°C and allow 15–20 minutes per 450g for rare to medium. Probe to 55°C for rare, 60°C for medium.
• Chicken: 20 minutes per 450g plus 20 minutes at 200°C. Push butter, lemon and thyme under the skin and season the cavity well. The thigh should read 75°C.
• Lamb shoulder: cover and cook at 160°C for 4–5 hours until it collapses, then uncover and blast at 220°C for 20 minutes to colour the fat.
• Pork loin or belly: 25 minutes per 450g plus 25 minutes at 180°C. Start at 240°C for the first 25 minutes to get the crackling going, then turn the heat down.

Always rest the meat before carving: 20 minutes for a chicken, 30 for a large joint, tented loosely with foil in a warm place. This is not optional. The juices redistribute, the meat relaxes, and the roasting tin stays free for the gravy.

Crisp roast potatoes: parboil, roughen, hot fat

Maris Pipers or King Edwards give you the fluffy interior and shattering exterior you want. Peel and cut into even halves or quarters, then rinse off the surface starch.

• Parboil in well-salted water for 7–8 minutes, with a pinch of bicarbonate of soda to help them fluff. The edges should be softening but the centres still firm.
• Drain and leave in the colander for a couple of minutes to steam dry, then shake them about to rough up the surfaces. Those ragged edges are where the crunch lives.
• Heat a generous layer of goose fat, beef dripping or rapeseed oil in a roasting tray at 220°C until it shimmers — about 8 minutes. Tip the potatoes in and turn them to coat.
• Roast for 25 minutes, turn them, then give them another 25–30 minutes. Don't crowd the tray. Two trays are better than one crowded one.

Season with flaky salt as they come out of the oven, not before.

Yorkshire puddings and seasonal vegetables

For the batter, use equal volumes of egg, milk and plain flour — roughly four eggs, 200ml milk and 140g plain flour, with a good pinch of salt. Whisk until smooth and let it rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Hot fat and cold batter is the classic advice; rested batter and a properly preheated tin matters more.

Pour a centimetre of oil into a deep tin or muffin tray and heat at 220°C until it is almost smoking. Pour the batter in and do not open the oven door for 20–25 minutes. They will rise, and they will collapse if you interfere.

For vegetables, keep it to two or three done properly rather than five done badly:

• Carrots roasted with honey, butter and thyme, or parsnips tossed in oil and mustard powder.
• Spring greens, cabbage or kale blanched for two minutes, drained hard and tossed in butter and black pepper.
• Braised red cabbage with apple and a splash of vinegar, which you can make a day ahead.
• Cauliflower cheese, if you want something indulgent alongside.

Shop the seasons: roots and brassicas from October through March, new potatoes and purple sprouting broccoli in spring, runner beans and broad beans in summer.

Gravy: the bit that holds it all together

Once the meat is resting, put the roasting tin on the hob over a medium heat. Spoon off most of the fat, leaving about two tablespoons. Sprinkle in two tablespoons of plain flour and cook it out for a minute or two, scraping up the sticky bits.

Add a splash of wine, cider or a spoonful of redcurrant jelly, let it bubble down, then pour in hot stock gradually, whisking as you go. Simmer for 5–10 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon, then stir in any juices that have collected under the resting meat. Season, and strain if you like it silky.

Pulling it all together

Work backwards from serving time. The joint goes in first. Potatoes join it when there's about 50 minutes left. Yorkshire batter goes into its hot tin the moment the meat comes out to rest, at which point the oven is free and hot. Vegetables cook in the last 15 minutes, gravy in the last 10. Carve, pile everything onto warm plates, and sit down while the potatoes are still crisp.