Partial to a Sunday roast? Here are top experts tips to make your next one spectacular

A traditional British roast is the right way to wave hello to a taste-filled autumn (Picture: Getty Images)

With fresh produce and a few tips from the Morrisons Market Street experts, you can host the perfect Sunday roast for the ones you love.

Nothing is more comforting than the time-honoured tradition of a family Sunday roast with succulent meat, delicious roasties, and majestic Yorkshires as autumn settles in.

Each family has its own twist on a traditional roast, but at its heart should always be a succulent bit of British meat. And all roast-enthusiasts know that choosing the right cut is important.

If you’re looking to get some expert advice when choosing your centrepiece, the Market Street butchers can help. As the supermarket celebrates 125 years of serving quality fresh food, Morrisons are championing the wonderful produce and services their experts provide day in, day out.

At the butcher’s counter on Morrisons Market Street, you’ll find British meat all year round sourced directly from farmers (Picture: Morrisons)

All the meat on Morrisons’ butcher’s counter is British all year round, as it’s sourced directly from British farmers. From beef brisket joints (pictured above) and pork medallions to chicken thighs and lamb legs, every cut is hand-prepared by the brilliant Market Street butchers.

Here they share some of their top tips for making a cracking roast, along with recipe ideas created in partnership with BBC Good Food…

Perfect garlic and herb roast pork with crackling and cider gravy

A simple way to elevate your roast is with this impressive pork joint recipe that boasts crispy crackling and tender meat – paired with a delicious gravy made with cider.

When you visit the Morrisons Market Street butcher, ask for a two kilo (4.4 pounds) rolled and tied pork loin, and rub salt into it a day before cooking if you can, leaving it uncovered in the fridge – this will help you achieve that crispy crackling when it’s cooked.

Pork is a great roast lunch centrepiece for your next family get together (Picture: Morrisons)

Preheat the oven to 230°C/210°C fan/gas 8. Meanwhile, make eight deep cuts in the pork loin underside and insert slivers of garlic, rosemary, thyme and bay leaf into each cut. Turn the pork the right way up. If you didn’t salt the pork earlier, salt the skin now.

Chop a large carrot and onion and toss into a shallow roasting tray. Sit the pork on top, rub the skin with sunflower oil and then roast together for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4 and roast for 1hr 40 mins (if after this time you don’t have crisp crackling, turn the heat up again and check every 5 mins until the skin has crackled).

Now for the gravy. Remove the now crispy pork from the tray, pour out all but two tablespoons of fat. Heat the tray on the hob and stir in two tablespoons of plain flour until you get a dark amber paste. 

If your tray is robust enough to go on direct heat, then put it on the hob over medium heat, if not, transfer to a shallow saucepan.

The gravy on top! A simple cider gravy pairs perfectly when drizzled over crispy crackling (Picture: Getty Images)

Add 100 ml of cider and keep stirring on the heat until you get a thick paste again. Pour in 600ml of chicken stock and simmer for eight to 10 minutes for a thick gravy.

For added flavour, the Market Street experts suggest adding a little extra water into your roasting tray 5 minutes before your Sunday roast is cooked. This will help remove all the tasty juices from the tray ready to make your gravy. Also, use a touch of good quality gravy granules to help thicken your juices

Once you’re ready, simply carve the pork and crackling into slices and serve with delicious seasonal vegetables and the gravy for a wonderful roast.

Top tip: The Market Street experts recommend cooking your crackling at a really high heat for the first 30 minutes to get it nice and crispy.

Also, for the perfectly-cooked joint, the experts suggest investing in a meat temperature probe to monitor your roast. This will prevent over cooking and being disappointed if the meat is dry.

Greek-style roast lamb and new potatoes with tomato olive sauce

For a Mediterranean twist on the classic roast, this Greek-inspired recipe packs a real flavour punch. Its centrepiece is a Morrisons Market Street bone-in leg of lamb weighing about two kilos.

You’ll also need six large garlic cloves, 6 tbsp olive oil, one lemon, 1 kg of new potatoes, 400g of chopped tomatoes, one chicken stock cube, 75g of pitted black olives, asparagus and salad to serve and a small bunch of oregano or thyme leaves.

Start by heating the oven to 240°C/220°C fan/gas 9, then use a mortar and pestle to grind the garlic, lemon zest and half the herbs with a pinch of salt, adding in one tablespoon of olive oil and the juice of the lemon.

Do your brood prefer lamb? Tuck into the Mediterranean flavours of this Greek-style roast lamb leg (Picture: Morrisons)

Pierce the Morrisons leg of lamb all over and rub in the herb paste, pop the potatoes in a roasting tin, add about five tablespoons of olive oil and any remaining herb paste. Put the lamb among the potatoes and roast for about 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180°C/160°C fan/gas 4.

Roast for one hour and 15 minutes if you want the lamb medium-rare, or add another 15 minutes for medium and a further 10 after that for well done. Baste the lamb with the juices once or twice during cooking and turn the potatoes.

Market Street experts suggest browning the lamb before roasting to give your leg some texture and to seal in the flavour.

Leave the lamb to rest and add the remaining herbs to the potatoes. Remove from the pan and keep warm. Then simply pour the roasting juices to a shallow pan, add the chopped tomatoes, half a can of water, the stock cube and olives and simmer for 10 minutes. Serve with griddled asparagus and a simple salad for freshness.

And for a sweet treat? Try a doughnut trifle

The best roast dinners are followed by a delicious pudding and this one takes just five minutes to prepare.

You’ll need eight glazed or sugar-coated doughnuts from the Market Street bakery, 500g of custard, 600g of summer berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries) and whipped cream. Grab eight individual deep serving dishes or a large trifle dish, cut the doughnuts into bite size pieces and put half of them at the bottom of the dish(es).

Jazz up a traditional trifle by ditching the ladyfingers and swapping them out for delectable doughnuts(Picture: Morrisons)

Whip 300ml of double cream with one teaspoon of vanilla extract and four tablespoons of icing sugar together until soft peaks are formed.

Put a third of the berries on top of the doughnut layer. Add a layer of custard then another layer of doughnut pieces and another layer of berries. Top with the whipped cream and garnish with more berries and flaked almonds. You can keep the trifle in the fridge for up to three days afterwards and serve chilled.

A Sunday sensation

A Sunday roast is a great way to bring friends and family together to share the traditional tastes of Great British cuisine. 

With a little help from the experts at Morrisons Market Street, you can make your roast a truly memorable gathering.