Ribeye with Bottarga Butter
Thomas J. Story
“When I was the chef of Saltwater in Inverness, I was right down the street from Marin Sun Farms butcher shop,” says Meave McAuliffe of Rory’s Place in Ojai. “I’m still obsessed with their meats, and a perfectly marbled ribeye is still one of my favorite things to eat. Get two really good quality ribeyes and let them come to room temperature while you are preparing your bottarga butter. I love to cook with my friend’s bottarga from Cortez Conservas in Florida. This is simple and delicious and can be done on the stovetop or a gas grill if you don’t have a wood-fired oven.”
Sunset Wine Club: Perfect Pairing
THE WINE: 2019 Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria de los Tecolotes Syrah, Santa Barbara County, California.
WHY IT WORKS: Smoky notes and voluptuous tannins complement the steak and pumpkin.
Find this bottle, and others just like it, at the Sunset Wine Club.
This recipe and others like it can be found in our story about Ojai restaurant Rory's Place, "Two Sisters Are Harnessing Ojai’s Bounty to Create the California Restaurant of Our Dreams," originally published in Sunset's 2022 Wellness Issue.
How to Make It
1
In a small bowl, combine butter, bottarga, piment d’Espelette, and parsley.
2
Generously salt and grind black pepper over both sides of the ribeyes, and let rest 10 minutes.
3
Place a large, heavy skillet or cast-iron pan over high heat for about 5 minutes. Drizzle some olive oil into the pan—it should immediately start smoking. Add the steaks and cook, without moving them, about 2 minutes. Move the steaks a little without flipping them and cook 2 minutes more, to help them brown all over. Once they have a nice crust, turn them over and cook a few minutes more, until the steaks are medium rare. Transfer to a cutting board and rest about 10 minutes to let the juices settle. Slice steaks into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices and place the slices on a platter. Spoon a few generous dollops of bottarga butter over the top and let it melt into the steak. Serve immediately.
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Ingredients
4 oz softened butter
3 oz bottarga, grated on a microplane
1 tsp piment d’Espelette
1 tsp finely chopped parsley
kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
two 1 1⁄2-inch thick ribeyes
olive oil
Directions
1
In a small bowl, combine butter, bottarga, piment d’Espelette, and parsley.
2
Generously salt and grind black pepper over both sides of the ribeyes, and let rest 10 minutes.
3
Place a large, heavy skillet or cast-iron pan over high heat for about 5 minutes. Drizzle some olive oil into the pan—it should immediately start smoking. Add the steaks and cook, without moving them, about 2 minutes. Move the steaks a little without flipping them and cook 2 minutes more, to help them brown all over. Once they have a nice crust, turn them over and cook a few minutes more, until the steaks are medium rare. Transfer to a cutting board and rest about 10 minutes to let the juices settle. Slice steaks into 1⁄4-inch-thick slices and place the slices on a platter. Spoon a few generous dollops of bottarga butter over the top and let it melt into the steak. Serve immediately.
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