Joe Wicks' roast beef recipe

Joe Wicks’ roast beef dinner is the ultimate Sunday feast and it’s 802 calories per portion. 

Although Joe Wicks chicken pie is a great Sunday roast alternative, sometimes you can’t beat home cooked roast beef. Joe’s recipe takes 20 minutes to prepare and is served with swede mash and cauliflower cheese. Joe says: 'There are no Yorkshire puddings I’m afraid but it tastes lovely and will keep you lean.'

Ingredients

• 1.5kg piece of sirloin, at room temperature
• 4 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 large swede, roughly cubed
• 2 heads of cauliflower, florets only (about 650g)
• 215g mascarpone
• 1 egg
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 40g cheddar, grated
• 25g parmesan, grated
• 20g butter
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs of thyme
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 500ml good-quality beef stock

To serve:

• small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• steamed greens

Method

1. Heat your oven to 220C (200C fan, Gas 7).Season the beef with salt and pepper and place it onto a roasting tin. Slide it into the oven and roast for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 175C (155C fan, Gas 4) and continue to roast the beef for 25 minutes. Remove it from the oven, wrap it tightly in tin foil and leave it to rest on a plate for at least 20 minutes. Do not throw away the fat and cooking juices from the tin.
2. While the beef is roasting, bring two large saucepans of water to the boil. Chuck the carrots and swede into one of the pans and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until they are tender.
3. Drop the cauliflower florets into the other pan and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until the florets are just tender. Drain the florets in a sieve or colander and leave to steam dry.
4. Beat together the mascarpone, egg, spring onions and mustard along with a good pinch of salt and pepper. The mascarpone should loosen as you beat it, but if not, add a splash of water until the mixture reaches ‘dolloping’ consistency.
5. Pile the cauliflower florets into an oven dish and scrape the mascarpone mixture over the top, spreading it out. Scatter the cheddar and parmesan over the top of the dish and then slide the cauliflower into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, or until the mascarpone is bubbling and the cheese has browned.
6. When the swede and carrots are tender, thoroughly drain them in a sieve or colander and tip them back into the pan along with the butter. Add a bit of salt and a generous pinch of pepper and mash the lot together – you don’t want to mash it up too much as a bit of texture is nice. Keep warm until you’re ready to serve.
7. Place the roasting tin over a low to medium heat (or pour the beef fat into a small pan if you don’t have a hob-proof roasting tin). Add the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme, sprinkle in the flour and stir to combine with the juices to form a smooth paste.
8. Cook the paste for about 1 minute then start gradually adding in the beef stock – if you pour too much in too quickly then you will end up with lumpy gravy. Keep stirring in the beef stock until it has all been incorporated, then bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Scatter with chopped parsley and serve up the roast beef dinner with some freshly steamed greens, if liked.

Top tips for making Joe Wicks' roast beef

For Joe’s hearty roast beef, he uses a 1.5kg sirloin joint. If your joint is a different size the cooking time may vary. Read our tips below for some guidance and how to check when it’s cooked. 

Cooking for Family and Friends: 100 Lean Recipes to Enjoy Together by Joe Wicks (Bluebird, £9) - View at Amazon 

Why not go all out and finish your Sunday roast with a tasty dessert from Joe Wicks too? We like the sound of his banana and date cake but his sticky toffee pudding is too tempting not to try! 

We have more Joe Wicks recipes depending on your needs. Why not compare his roast to Gordon Ramsay’s roast beef fillets or try our mustard and thyme roast beef recipe instead.