What is the appeal of making a massive cut of meat and then serving it cold? Oh so much is right about this. Firstly cold roast beef is served cold! No reheating anxiety to worry about. It takes several days of planning to get this done, but on the other hand, it needs to be made ahead of time, freeing up time on serving day. And best of all on a table filled with fresh salads the cold roast beef is an anchoring dish. Making my favorite kind of meal, cold relaxed, and by and-large made ahead of time.
What I love about this beef is that its simplicity lets the flavors shine through and it just wants to be topped with a spread, I tend to take out every mustard I have in my fridge if I couldn’t be bothered to make the salsa verde. That said; make the salsa verde! It is just so bright in flavor you can’t help but smile when taking a mouth full of beef topped liberally with salsa verde.
*you will need to start this recipe 2 days before you plan on serving it.
For Roast beef:
- 2 kilo (4.4 pounds) round bola (beef chuck) rolled into a roast and tied with twine
- 4 tablespoons diamond kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
For Salsa Verde:
- 25g (1 cup) parsley leaves
- 25g (3 ½ tablespoons) capers
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 120ml (½ cup) olive oil
- Salt the beef 36-24 hours before you start the recipe and store in the fridge in an airtight container. After salting remove from the fridge and bring to room temperature this may take several hours if your roast is very thick in the center.
- Heat the oven to 220℃ (450℉). Place the beef on a roasting tin, and rub the olive oil all over it. Roast the beef for 20 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 160℃ (320℉). Roast your beef anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes or longer depending on the thickness of the cut and how well you want it done. Your best friend at this point is an instant meat thermometer. Keep in mind that the roast will keep on cooking after you have taken it out of the oven and the internal temperature may rise by as much as 8 degrees. You are looking for an internal temperature of:
- Rare – 52℃ (125℉)
- Medium rare – 57℃ (135℉)
- Medium – 63℃ (145℉)
- Medium well – 66℃ (150℉)
- Well done 71℃ (160℉)
- Take out of the oven, allow to cool, wrap well in foil and store in the fridge for at least 8 hours but preferably longer, before slicing. The colder the beef the easier it is to slice.
- Roast beef will keep in the fridge for 3 days in an airtight container.
For Salsa Verde:
- Place parsley, capers, garlic, mustard and lemon juice in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, process until the parsley is well chopped up. With the machine running, stream in the olive oil. Keep on processing until the parsley is finely minced and the olive oil is well incorporated. Taste and adjust seasoning with flakey sea salt and additional lemon juice if needed.
- Salsa verde can be made up to a week ahead of time, keep in the fridge in an airtight container.
