Hearty roast dinner recipes for the ultimate family feast
Beef topside is a lean cut with very little fat on it, so getting your timing right is important. It's best served rare or medium rare; if you overcook this joint you risk the meat becoming chewy.
Brisket is an economical cut which requires long, slow cooking, but it's worth the time to produce such a juicy, succulent roast. Seasoning, browning and basting the meat in a flavourful marinade before cooking will make it even more tender.
This British dish is a true showstopper of a roast – juicy fillet of beef is spread with a rich liver and mushroom pâté and wrapped in pastry. Don't panic, it's much easier than it sounds – in our recipe from legendary chef and cookbook author Mary Berry you can use both shop-bought pâté and puff pastry.
For the best roast chicken, buy a really good quality free-range bird if you can. Stuff the cavity with a cut onion, half a lemon and a handful of fresh herbs, then tie the legs up.
Fancy a flavour-packed roast chicken with a twist? Try our recipe, which uses a tasty ground ginger and paprika rub to coat the chicken, which is served with a zingy watercress and ginger mayonnaise (you can make the sauce while the bird is cooking)
Musakhan is the hugely popular national dish of Palestine and makes a fantastic alternative roast that’s perfect for sharing. Tear at some of the bread which is served underneath the sumac-roasted chicken and caramelised onions (so it catches the juices) and spoon over the meat and toppings.
A butter infused with garlic, rosemary and smoked paprika gives a deliciously warming flavour to the spatchcocked bird, which is cooked on a bed of potatoes before a silky sauce rich with meaty morel mushrooms is added.