I Cooked a Giant Beef Rib Asado for 3.5 Hours

I cooked a giant rib of beef asado over fire for 3.5 hours, then made a salsa verde paella rice on the barbecue to serve with it. All credit for this video goes to my best friend Mariano. He taught me how to become a master of the fire and cook meat the traditional way. This started with a simple idea: beef and salsa verde is one of my favourite flavour combinations, so I wanted to build a rice dish around that same profile. Garlic, parsley, capers, lemon, olive oil and smoky barbecue rice. This is not a traditional seafood paella. It is more of a fire-cooked beef arroz, made in a paella pan with olive oil, sofrito, beef stock and a fresh salsa verde finish. The beef brings the smoke and richness. The rice brings the garlic, herbs, acidity and capers. It is basically asado meets paella meets salsa verde. Ingredients For the beef: 1 large rib of beef Olive oil Sea salt Black pepper For the salsa verde paella rice: 400g bomba rice or paella rice 1.2 litres hot stock, ideally beef stock or a beef and chicken stock mix 3 to 4 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely diced 1 green pepper, finely diced 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 large grated tomato or 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp smoked paprika Salt, to taste Black pepper For the salsa verde: Large handful fresh parsley, finely chopped 2 tbsp capers, rinsed and chopped 1 to 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated Zest of 1 lemon Juice of ½ lemon 3 to 4 tbsp olive oil Black pepper Small pinch of salt, only if needed Optional extras: Fresh chilli Mint Anchovy Dijon mustard Charred spring onions Extra lemon for serving Method Start by seasoning the rib of beef generously with sea salt and black pepper. Rub lightly with olive oil, then place it over the asado grill or barbecue. Cook the beef slowly over fire for around 3.5 hours, controlling the heat so it cooks gently rather than burning on the outside. Turn it when needed and let the fat and smoke build flavour. While the beef is cooking, prepare the salsa verde. Finely chop the parsley, capers and garlic. Mix with lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil and black pepper. Taste before adding salt, because the capers are already salty. Keep the salsa verde fresh and uncooked until the end. Once the beef is cooked, remove it from the grill and let it rest properly on a tray or board with a lip. Keep any resting juices. Put the paella pan over the barbecue fire. Add a good amount of olive oil to the pan. Add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Cook gently for around five minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the grated tomato or tomato paste. Cook it down until thick and sticky. Add the smoked paprika and stir for 10 seconds. Add the rice and stir it through the sofrito and olive oil for around one minute, making sure every grain is coated. Pour in the hot stock. Use roughly three parts stock to one part rice. For 400g rice, around 1.2 litres of stock is right. Shake the pan level and avoid stirring heavily after this point. Cook over strong heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the stock is bubbling across the whole pan. Move to a gentler heat and cook for another 8 to 10 minutes, until the rice is nearly dry and the grains are cooked. In the final 2 minutes, spoon half of the salsa verde over the rice. Increase the heat for 1 to 2 minutes to create a light socarrat on the bottom. Listen for a gentle crackle, not a burning smell. Remove the paella pan from the heat and rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Spoon 1 to 2 tablespoons of the beef resting juices into the rice, just enough to connect the rice back to the beef without making it wet. Finish the rice with the remaining fresh salsa verde. Slice the beef thickly and serve with the salsa verde paella rice, extra lemon and a little more salsa verde over the top. The result is smoky, rich, sharp and fresh at the same time. The beef is slow-cooked and heavy in the best way, while the rice cuts through it with parsley, capers, garlic and lemon. This is the sort of cooking I love: simple ingredients, fire, time and one flavour idea that pulls the whole dish together. #Asado #BeefRib #Paella #SalsaVerde #BBQCooking #OutdoorCooking #MallorcaFood #FireCooking #Arroz #JamieEnjoysMallorca