Easy Oven Roast Beef with Harvest Vegetable Sauce

Encrusted with fragrant harvest-season spices, this Eye of Round roast smells fantastic as it cooks in the oven. Serve with the rich roasted vegetable sauce that is naturally creamy without the addition of cream. To maximize browning, the roast is cooked separately from the vegetables.

Yield 8 Servings Prep. Time 30 min Cooking Time 135 min Total Time 165 min

Ingredients

Here are the following ingredients:

2 tsp (10 mL) EACH salt and fresh ground pepper
1 tsp (5 mL) EACH brown sugar, paprika and ground coriander
½ tsp (2 mL) EACH ground ginger, allspice and garlic powder
¼ tsp (1 mL) EACH ground cinnamon and cloves
3 lb (1.5 kg) Beef Eye of Round Oven Roast
¼ cup (60 mL) vegetable oil, divided
1 cup (250 mL) chopped fennel bulb (reserve fennel fronds for serving)
1 EACH carrot, onion, stalk celery and peeled apple, cut into ½-inch (1 cm) pieces
6 cloves garlic

Harvest Vegetable Sauce

2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, divided
2 tbsp (30 mL) tomato paste
½ cup (125 mL) dry sherry
2 cups (500 mL) reduced-sodium beef broth
¼ tsp (1 mL) EACH salt and fresh ground pepper

Shopping List

Here are the following shopping items to buy:

Method

Follow these cooking methods/directions:

Combine salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, coriander, ginger, allspice, garlic powder, cinnamon and cloves in a small bowl. Reserve 1 tsp (5 mL) spice blend for vegetables.
Pat roast dry with paper towel. Rub with 2 tbsp (30 mL) oil and season all over with remaining spice blend. Place roast on rack in shallow roasting pan. Insert oven-safe meat thermometer into centre of roast.
Toss fennel, apple, carrot, onion, celery and garlic cloves with remaining oil and reserved spice blend in a large bowl. Arrange in a single layer on parchment paper-lined rimmed baking sheet.
Place roast on middle rack and vegetables on lower rack in a preheated 450°F oven. Oven-sear roast and vegetables for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 275°F (135°C); roast, uncovered, for about 1¾ to 2¼ hours for medium-rare, removing from oven when 5°F (3°C) below desired finished temperature (145°F/63°C for medium-rare, or 160°F/71°C for medium at the most) and vegetables are golden brown and tender.
Transfer roast to a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Divide the vegetables in half; cover one portion with foil to keep warm.

Harvest Vegetable Sauce:

Meanwhile, melt half the butter over medium heat in the roasting pan with any drippings. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes. Stir in sherry; bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits from pan. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until reduced slightly and starting to thicken. Stir in remaining roasted vegetables and broth; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes or until flavours blend together. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Carefully transfer to a blender or to a tall, narrow pitcher or measuring cup and use an immersion blender; purée sauce until smooth. Stir in remaining butter; season with salt and pepper.
Carve roast across the grain into thin slices. Serve with roasted vegetables and Harvest Vegetable Sauce.

Eye of round is a very lean cut, so our recommendation is to cook no more than to medium doneness and to slice thinly. The shape of roast and cut are major factors in determining cooking time (as is the accuracy of your oven), so the best way to check the doneness of your oven roast is to use a meat thermometer. There are 2 basic types of meat thermometers. The programmable oven-safe digital models with a probe that you insert directly into the roast before placing in the oven and a read-out screen which allows you to monitor the temperature without continually opening the door. Digital instant-read meat thermometers are not oven-safe, so these are not inserted into the roast before cooking. Therefore, you must remove the roast from the oven and then insert the thermometer in the centre of roast to check for doneness.