Roast beef topside with tomatoes, garlic & Madeira

Name: Roast beef topside with tomatoes, garlic & Madeira
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 2 h 20 min
Yield: 8
Ingredients: 1.8 kg piece British beef topside; 3 tbsp olive oil; 8 echalion shallots, peeled and halved lengthways, ends trimmed; 1 kg classic vine tomatoes, halved; 1 bulb/s garlic, halved across the middle; 2 bay leaves; 5 tbsp Madeira, plus an extra splash; 500 ml beef stock from a pouch or can; 3 sprig/s oregano, plus extra leaves to serve; 2 tbsp cornflour

Topside is an economical cut for a crowd, but treated properly it will be just as tender as a sirloin. The secret is to give it a proper amount of resting, which is easy here as the gravy is made after it comes out of the oven. Serve with mashed potatoes and greens.

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Serves8 with leftover beef
CourseMain meal
Prepare20 mins
Cook2 hrs
Total time2 hrs 20 mins
Plusresting

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1.8kg piece British beef topside
3 tbsp olive oil
8 echalion shallots, peeled and halved lengthways, ends trimmed
1kg classic vine tomatoes, halved
1 bulb/s garlic, halved across the middle
2 bay leaves
5 tbsp Madeira, plus an extra splash
500ml beef stock from a pouch or can
3 sprig/s oregano, plus extra leaves to serve
2 tbsp cornflour

Preheat the oven to 220°C, gas mark 7. Put the beef into a roasting tin that can fit the shallots and tomatoes snugly together later. Season all over and drizzle over the olive oil, allowing the excess to flow into the dish. Roast for 20 minutes, then lower the oven to 170°C, gas mark 3 and roast for 15 minutes more.
Add the shallots and turn to coat in the meat juices and oil. Season with salt and return to the oven for 30 minutes for medium-rare. Remove the beef from the tin, then wrap tightly in foil and leave to rest on a plate in a warm place.
Once the beef is out, add the tomatoes, garlic and bay leaves to the tin, turn to coat in the juices and increase the oven temperature to 200°C, gas mark 6. Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the shallots are dark golden and very soft. Remove the shallots onto a plate, cover tightly with foil and leave to rest somewhere warm.
Add the Madeira to the tomatoes, roughly squash them, then return to the oven for 10 minutes more, until there are plenty of juices in the pan and the tomatoes are completely collapsing. Strain everything into a sieve set over a saucepan and, using a spatula, press through the sieve until left with quite a dry mix of tomato seeds and skins, garlic skins and bay leaves. Discard this.
Add the beef stock and oregano sprigs to the tomato juices in the pan, bring to the boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes until reduced by around a third. Put the cornflour into a bowl and add a couple of spoonfuls of gravy – enough to dissolve the cornflour to a thick, smooth paste when stirred. Pour back into the pan and boil for 2-3 minutes until the mixture thickens slightly. If you prefer a thicker gravy, repeat this step with more cornflour. Add a splash of Madeira to the gravy with any resting beef juices, then season to taste and remove the oregano sprigs.
Carve the beef into thin slices, then serve with the shallots and gravy on the side, garnished with fresh oregano leaves.

Cook’s tip

If you like your beef medium, give it an extra 10 minutes before adding the shallots to the tin (so 25 minutes rather than 15), then continue with the recipe.

Typical values per serving when made using specific products in recipe