Matt Preston’s six new takes on a classic roast dinner

Matt Preston shares his hot new takes on the classic roast dinner.

Roast lamb koftas with pumpkin and crisp couscous

The tradition of the Sunday roast is one that possibly dates as far back as the reign of Henry VII in the 15th century.

His Majesty’s royal guards were provided with plenty of meat to eat, and would pop a roast on to cook before heading off to church on a Sunday. This is allegedly where they got the nickname “Beefeaters”.

Over time, the practice of a post-church roast caught on outside the palace walls, and it became a British tradition that eventually made its way here to Australia.

While you can never really go past your own mum’s leg of lamb, for those who’d like to explore new territory when it comes to this Sunday lunch favourite, I bring you my guide to some other deliciously justifiable roasts that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. You’ll find no $150 eye fillets here!

Related: One-pan Sunday roast recipes without the washing up

SPATCHCOCKED CHICKEN

A chicken remains one of the most affordable options, but take a break from the usual stuffed bird with crunchy golden roasties and ask your butcher to flatten or “spatchcock” it. Rub the bird with your favourite spice mix and sear on both sides on a very hot barbecue or in a grill pan before roasting at 180°C for 30 minutes or until done.

I love to roast a bird either on a raft of par-cooked carrots (especially if the spice mix is coriander or cumin-heavy), or on a trivet with a little chicken stock sloshing around underneath to catch all the drippings to make a quick and easy gravy.

And if you can’t bear to be parted from the roast potatoes, just start them in the oven at least 20 minutes before adding the bird.

Spatchcocked chicken.

PORK BELLY

While there is certainly something perfect about the tender pale meat and perfect bronze crackling of a great rolled pork loin roast, pork belly can give you much of the same joy but for much less money.

I like to finish cooking mine in the dark red deliciousness of a Chinese dong po rou braise. After scoring and drying the skin and then drying the belly out in the fridge overnight, rub with oil and salt and roast in your hottest preheated oven for an hour.

Then drop the heat to 140°C and pour orange juice, some water, lots of thinly-sliced ginger and four star anise around the pan without wetting the crackle. Cook for two more hours, topping up the orange juice if needed.

When done, rest the pork and reduce the liquid remaining to the thickness of cream at a happy simmer with some dark soy, light soy and caster sugar. I lift off the crackle and break it into shards, and serve it with the fantastic but very intense caramelised sauce poured over the meat, along with brown rice and steamed greens.

ROAST LAMB AND LEMONY POTATOES

This now rivals roast chicken at home as our most-cooked roast, perhaps because it’s as simple as any one-pot wonder. Preheat your oven to 100°C and score the fat side of a 2.5kg lamb leg or shoulder into diamonds.

Matt Preston. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Cut 1.5kg of peeled spuds into fat slices and quarter three onions and arrange all over the bottom of your largest roasting tray. Pour over a cup of stock. Place the lamb onto top.

Drizzle the lamb with olive oil. Squeeze over the juice of a lemon, with some oregano and a little picked rosemary. Cover with a foil tent and bake for 3.5 hours. Check a couple of times during cooking to see if you need to add a little more stock or lemon juice.

Now increase the oven temperature to 200°C. Remove the foil and roast for another half an hour. The lamb will go golden. Remove the lamb and the onions and rest for 15 minutes.

I’ll then squeeze some more lemon juice over the potatoes and leave them in the oven to get extra sticky with the reduced stock and rendered lamb fat.

Eat with loads of peas and fresh mint. You could also, for a change, try tied roast lamb rumps with an oregano, pink grapefruit and chilli salsa, or roast lamb backstraps with beetroot and smoked yoghurt.

THE SUNDAY ROAST TRAY BAKE WITH MINIMAL WASHING UP

In biblical terms, the burnt offering begat the Sunday roast and the Sunday roast begat the tray bake – and a whole heap less pots to wash.

Chicken thighs work great roasted this way tossed with oil, veg and your favourite seasonings, but do also try a tray bake with meatballs instead, like Warren Mendes’ lamb koftas and spiced pumpkin baked on top of fluffy couscous.

This recipe doesn’t require the meatballs to be browned first; they cook as the pumpkin roasts and the cooked couscous goes a little crispy. Other than forming the meatballs and cooking the couscous, the oven does most of the work and it’ll be cooked in 40 minutes with only one tray and a bowl to wash up.

Sticky beef short ribs.

THE POT ROAST

Slow-cooked lamb and pork shoulders have become too obvious and too popular to be classed as new roasts, so perhaps – and only if the attraction of these has waned for you – try your hand at pot roasting instead.

Here you’ll use cheaper cuts like brisket and lamb neck, which really benefit from this slow, tenderising and flavour-intensifying process. Check out Matt Moran’s pot-roasted short ribs or Colin Fassnidge’s pot-roasted pork neck.

THE VEGIE ROAST

While the whole roast cauliflower is still my vego go-to roast, I have been experimenting over the years with the joy of hasslebacked eggplant or sweet potatoes as another option. Or even baking a whole pumpkin. I’ve shared a few more of my tips here!

Related: Make yourself comfortable with Matt Preston’s 6 go-to comfort foods

Find the recipe for the roast lamb koftas with pumpkin and crisp couscous pictured above, here.