Ribeye steaks with Watercress Pesto and Dauphinoise Potatoes. Image credit: Unsplash
Rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes & basil pesto
When you want to impress somebody for date night, a perfectly cooked rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes & basil pesto will do the trick.
Ribeye steaks with Watercress Pesto and Dauphinoise Potatoes. Image credit: Unsplash
Have you ever wondered how restaurants make those perfectly cooked steaks that are tender and juicy with the perfect crust? Well, it all comes down to a hot pan and timing. Not only will this rib-eye steak be butter basted but it pairs perfectly well with these French baked potatoes. Rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes and basil pesto is a great dish for those fancy dinner parties with your friends or to show off a bit on date night.
Rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes
First off, you will be baking your dauphinoise potatoes which is just the French name for something we, in South Africa, call “potato bake”. However, as with a lot of restaurant-style cooking, you’ll be layering flavours with extra cooking processes. You can optionally top the potatoes with ricotta cheese or a great cheddar for that bubbly cheesy goodness. A great meal like this is best served with your favourite glass of South African red wine.
ALSO READ: Biltong roast potatoes
When you want to impress somebody for date night, a perfectly cooked rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes & basil pesto will do the trick.
Last updated on 16 November 2022
Rib-eye steak with dauphinoise potatoes recipe
Course: DinnerCuisine: GlobalDifficulty: ModeratePrep time
45
minutesCooking time
30
minutesTotal time
1
hour15
minutesA meal fit for a king.
Ingredients
2 2 rib-eye steaks
salt and cracked black pepper
30 g 30 butter
1 clove 1 garli, peeled and crushed
- Potato dauphinoise
400 g 400 maris piper potatoes, peeled & thinly sliced with a sharp knife or mandoline (the potatoes should be no thicker than a R5 coin).
1 clove 1 garlic, peeled & finely crushed
300 ml 300 double cream
100 ml 100 whole milk
1 pinch 1 grated nutmeg
Salt & pepper
50 g 50 ricotta (optional)
- Watercress Pesto
50 g 50 watercress (you can use the stalks)
30 g 30 basil leaves
40 g 40 pine kernels
Juice of half a lemon
50 g 50 finely grated parmesan
2 cloves 2 garlic, peeled and crushed
100 ml 100 extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
Method
- Rib-eye Steaks
- Take these out of the fridge & unpack them before you start preparing the other ingredients, so they have time to come to room temperature.
- Pesto
- Blitz the watercress, basil, ¾ of the pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and a little salt into a fine-textured paste in a food processor.
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in the parmesan and remaining whole pine nuts.
- Potato Dauphinoise
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan, 200°C. Grease the inside of a gratin dish using butter.
- Mix the milk, cream, garlic, nutmeg & seasoning in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then turn off the heat.
- Gradually add the potatoes into your creamy mix in the pan, stirring to ensure they don’t stick together.
- Bring the mixture back to the boil, then simmer on a low heat for around 10 minutes. The starch from the potatoes will thicken the mix.
- Transfer the potatoes to the buttered gratin dish, spreading them evenly in layers. Pour the cream mix over to cover them.
- Crumble ricotta over the top (an optional extra indulgence).
- Bake for 30 minutes, until the ricotta is just browning on top.
- Cooking your rib-eye steaks
- Pat the steaks dry with kitchen towel and season well on both sides with salt & pepper as well as olive oil.
- Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan over high heat. The pan must be smoking at this point.
- Seer the steak on each side for no more than 4 minutes a side. Only turn it over when the pan has released the steak.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add the butter and garlic to the pan, and use these to baste the steaks.
- Cook to your liking – a medium rare 4 cm steak should take about 3 minutes on each side.
- Leave to rest for about 5 minutes, ideally on a rack. This allows the meat’s juices to settle, so it’s more tender.
- Serve with a drizzle of pesto, dauphinoise and some watercress leaves with finely sliced red onion on the side.
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