There’s a reason why restaurants slow cook their beef – it doesn’t shrink leaving them more to sell.
Everyone who loves rare or medium-rare beef should be using this method. It’s absolutely never fail.
This is a great rare roast beef recipe if you’re having guests for dinner and you want to be sure it’s going to be perfectly cooked. I’ve never had a fail with this one. It’s my go-to recipe for roast beef.
Best Rare Roast Beef Recipe
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Rare roast beef that's pink from edge to edge and melts in your mouth when you eat it.
Author: Inspired by Maggie Beer
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients
- 1 beef fillet - works with other cuts of beef too (2 to 2½ lbs)
- black pepper, crushed
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic thinly sliced
- Extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp fresh rosemary, roughly chopped
- 2 teaspoon fresh thyme, roughly chopped
Instructions
- Get your butcher to trim the sinew from the beef fillet and tuck the tail end under the fillet, and tie it with butchers twine.
- Tie the rest of the fillet at 1½" intervals & place in a roasting pan. I use plastic bag for this and just roll the bag occasionally.
- Mix the black pepper, rosemary & thyme and rub all over, top with sliced garlic, and bay leaves.
- Pour the balsamic vinegar over, cover and leave to marinate for a couple of hours or overnight, turning occasionally. If you’re using a cheaper cut of beef, marinate longer.
- Pre-heat the oven to 160 F, and bring the fillet up to room temperature, remove from the marinade and pat it dry, place in a clean roasting dish and cook it in the oven for 4 hours. Yes, it will cook really well at that temperature.
- Once the 4 hours are up, remove the roast from the oven and sprinkle some sea salt all over the fillet and seal on all sides in a large (hot) frying pan.
- Remove from the pan and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
Notes
The roast beef will be beautifully pink (medium rare) all the way through. If you can’t be sure that the meat is done to your doneness likeing, use a meat thermometer.
If you want more or less rare, the inside temperature should be:
110 to 120F = Blue – very, very rare
125 to 130F = Rare – cold, red soft center
130 to 140F = Medium rare – warm, red firmish center
140 to 150F = Medium = pink and firm
150 to 155F = Medium well – small amount of pink in the center
160 to 170F = Well done – grayish brown throughout and very firm
I can’t imagine anyone wanting beef more than medium but to each his own taste!