Beef rib eye roast

1 Place the rib eye on a cutting board, fat side down, with the short end facing towards you. Make a shallow incision along the entire length of the long side of the roast with a sharp knife. Continue cutting deeper into the roast, lifting and opening up the meat with your free hand. Make sure you don’t cut all the way through; the idea is to open up the roast (like a book) to butterfly it.

2 Cut 125g of the cold butter into 0.5cm elongated blocks. Soften the remaining butter and set aside for rubbing onto the outside of the roast. Using your fingertips, press down into the meat to make little ‘pockets’ and insert a butter block into each; make sure the blocks are evenly distributed over the rib eye. Season with salt and white pepper (don’t be shy) and sprinkle with the parsley.

3 Roll up the roast so that the fat is on top. Tie at 1cm intervals with kitchen string. Rub the tied-up roast with the remaining soft butter and wrap tightly with cling film. Chill for 8 hours or up to a day.

4 Allow the prepared roast to come to room temperature before roasting it in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the meat on a rack set inside a roasting pan and roast for 40 minutes, rotating once, until the fat is golden brown. Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C and cook for another 15–20 minutes. You want the rib eye to be a pleasing pink medium rare.

5 Remove the roast from the oven, move to a board and cover with a ‘tent’ of foil while it rests for 15 minutes. (Save any buttery juices from the roast to melt and pour over the meat once it’s been sliced.) With a sharp knife, carve the roast into 1cm slices and drizzle with the reserved juices. Serve on a warmed platter or directly onto your guests’ plates.