After the excesses of Christmas, the last thing you might want is a roast dinner. But January is a great time for simple roast meals. I’m talking of the kind where everything goes into the oven at once.

The equivalent of a one-pot wonder except in the oven. Is this called a one-tray wonder? It doesn’t seem to have the same ring to it. One-tray wonders usually have left-overs so they’re good for feeding families over two days or as sandwich fillers for the kids’ lunches.

Chicken or lamb suits this kind of dish very well. If you’re tired of birds after all the turkey at Christmas, you can just substitute a leg of lamb instead. Just keep in mind that the lamb will take a little longer to roast.

Temperature-wise you’re looking for a core temperature of 65 degrees for the chicken (medium well) or 55 degrees (medium rare) for the lamb. Use a digital meat thermometer. If takes all the guess work out of the equation.

Chopped vegetables

To begin, set your oven at 160 degrees. On the bottom of a suitable oven tray, lay some chopped vegetables, such as onions, carrots, leeks or fennel. Potatoes also work well. No need to peel them.

Do try and keep all the vegetables roughly the same size. If you don’t, they will cook unevenly. Season the vegetables with some nice coarse sea salt, extra virgin rapeseed oil and freshly chopped rosemary or thyme.

Then pour a large glass (200ml) of prosecco or cava over the vegetables (if its mid-week just use some chicken stock or water). Lay the meat (chicken or lamb) on top of the vegetables. Repeat the same process with the meat in terms of the seasoning and sparkling wine.

Roast in the oven for about an hour and a half and then check the temperature. At this point I usually put the oven up 180 degrees and give it a final 20 minutes to brown. Everyone’s oven works differently so do use your own sense. For example, if the chicken is already brown and at 70 degrees then it’s cooked. Recipes are there to be interpreted, not always followed literally.