Prime Rib Roast with roasted tomatoes, garlic and caramelised lemons

Photographer: Kate
Serves 10

For some of us there is nothing more soothing to the soul after a week of hard work than a Sunday spent at home in the kitchen creating a feast to enjoy with friends and family.  Glass of wine in hand, it’s a thrill and a pleasure to be the Sunday chef!  The rib roast is a very special cut of meat, and you will pay for one of these so I don’t recommend you take anything to chance.  The cooking time depends on so many factors, the size, thickness, general shape and so on that it’s just not worth trying to calculate the cooking time and hope for the best.  Many of our ovens have a built in temperature probe, and if you don’t have that feature I absolutely recommend picking one up from your local kitchen supply store so you can rest assured your roast will be absolutely lip smacking and perfect.

The garlic, tomatoes and lemons in this recipe are a delicious accompaniment to the roast and really make this a substantial summertime roast.  Serve with some beautiful mustard, crusty bread and a fresh green salad.

INGREDIENTS


One rib roast, 5 ribs (estimate serving 2 people per rib)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
10 bulbs of garlic
3-4 trusses of tomatoes
5 lemons
Olive oil (aproximately 1/4 cup total)

METHOD


1. Sprinkle the roast with salt, cover and allow it to come up to room temperature for 2-3 hours before you start to cook it.
2. If you have our ROAST function available on your oven you do not need to preheat your oven. If not then preheat your oven on bake to 200°C (400F.)
3. Place the roast fat side up and bones down in a roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, ensuring the thermometer isn’t touching a bone.
4. If using the ROAST function turn the oven on now and set to ROAST at 180°C (375F.) and immediately place the roast in the oven.
5. If using conventional bake place the roast in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes, when the timer goes off reduce the oven temperature to 160°C (325F.)
6. If you are using the ROAST function there is no need to adjust the oven.
7. Prepare the garlic bulbs by cutting the top ¼ of the bulb off, put ½ tsp of olive oil on each bulb and season with salt. Place in the oven around the meat after the approximately the first hour of cooking has passed.
8. Cut the lemons in half and heat a pan to a med-high heat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and place the lemon halves in and allow them to cook for around 5 minutes until they develop a caramel brown surface.
9. Roast in oven until thermometer registers 47°C (115F.) for rare or 52°C (125F.) for medium. (The internal temperature of the meat will continue to rise quite significantly after you take the roast out of the oven.)
10. Remove the roast from the oven and place meat on a carving board. Cover it with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before carving. The internal temperature of the roast will continue to rise while the roast is resting.
11. Immediately add the vine tomatoes and lemons to the tray and return to the oven. Bake for a further 5-10 minutes (until the tomatoes are cooked – this will depend on the size of your tomatoes) then turn the oven off and leave the tomatoes, garlic and lemons in the oven to keep warm.
12. Once fully rested carve the meat and serve garlic, tomatoes and lemons on the side.