Take beef out of fridge 1hr before cooking to allow to come up to room temperature. Arrange vegetables and half the thyme in a layer in the base of a small, sturdy roasting tin (just large enough to hold beef); set aside.
Step 2
Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5 and heat a large frying pan over high heat. Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper and take a note of its weight. Rub all over with the oil, then brown well on all sides in the pan. Position browned beef skin-side up on top of the vegetables, season well and sprinkle over remaining thyme. Roast in the oven for 10min per 500g (1lb 2oz) for rare meat, 15min per 500g (1lb 2oz) for medium-rare meat or 20min per 500g (1lb 2oz) for well-done meat then roast for an extra 10min. Or use a meat thermometer - for medium-rare meat the internal temperature of the beef should be 60°C. Baste beef a couple of times during cooking with pan juices - add a splash of water to tin if vegetables look too brown.
Step 3
When meat is cooked to your liking, carefully lift out of the tin and transfer beef to a board (set aside tin to make the Great Gravy). Cover with a couple of layers of foil and leave to rest for at least 30min, or up to 1hr.
Step 4
Serve roast beef in slices with the Great Gravy and sides.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
