Bobby Flay's Prime Rib Recipe

If you're hosting a dinner party, or you're planning the menu for a special occasion such as a holiday, prime rib may be at the top of your menu. This juicy, succulent cut of meat is absolutely perfect for serving a crowd, or for when you want to cook plenty to have leftovers. But, how exactly is the best way to cook a prime rib roast?

Well, according to Bobby Flay, roasting a prime rib and serving it with a thyme au jus is the right way to serve up an incredible meal, and he certainly has some valid points. But, recipe developer and food photographer Petar Marshall decided to up the ante even more. "There are so many vegetables and herbs that can add even more flavor to a roast," he says.

With that in mind, Marshall took Bobby Flay's recipe for prime rib and added shallots, onions, and rosemary into the mix for a truly delicious twist. And luckily, now that this recipe has been taken from delicious to extraordinary, Marshall is sharing it with you to make on your own at home for the next special occasion.

First thing's first: You'll want to grab all of your ingredients for this undertaking. A prime rib roast can be on the pricier side, so you certainly don't want any part of the process going awry.

For this prime rib recipe with a twist, you'll need, 1 (5 to 7-pound) bone-in prime rib roast, 8 cloves of garlic, coarse salt and black pepper, 2 cups of red wine, 4 cups of beef stock, ½ yellow onion, 1 shallot, 4 whole springs of fresh thyme, and 4 whole springs of fresh rosemary.

According to Marshall, he utilizes a 5 ½-pound roast for this recipe. "If they're on sale, you may want to get a bigger roast," he says. "This recipe can be adjusted for a range of roast sizes, from 5 to 7 pounds."

To get started on making your prime rib roast, you'll want to take the meat out and allow it to come to room temperature before putting it in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350 F, and then while you wait on that, prep your vegetables ahead of time. Peel the garlic and slice it, and then slice the yellow onion and the shallot into small slices. Break up one sprig of the rosemary into small pieces to utilize for stuffing the roast. Then, chop up all of the thyme and the remaining rosemary.

To prepare your roast for the oven, use a knife to cut small slits all over the prime rib roast. Once cut, take a piece of your sliced garlic and a small piece of rosemary and stuff into each slit that you meade. "This allows for the garlic and the added rosemary to impart really great flavor while the prime rib is roasting," says Marshall.

Once the roast is stuffed with garlic and rosemary, fully season it with salt and pepper. After seasoning, it's ready to put in the oven.

Place the roast in a Dutch oven or a roasting pan, and allow it to cook at 350 F for approximately 2 hours. "Your roasting time will depend on the size of the meat," says Marshall. "Be sure to check the temperature with a meat thermometer."

For a nice, medium-rare prime rib roast, you'll want the thermometer to read 130 to 135 F. Once the roast is cooked, take it out of the oven, remove it from the pan, and place the roast on a serving platter or a cutting board. Cover the roast with tin foil while you make the au jus to keep it warm for serving.

Once the meat has been removed from the pot, you'll want to utilize it to make the au jus. "Utilizing the drippings from the meat makes the sauce that much better," says Marshall. "It adds beautiful flavor to complete the dish."

If there's grease left in the Dutch oven from the meat, drain that out, reserving the pan drippings. Then, add in the thinly sliced onion and shallot, and sauté them in the pot, scraping the drippings on the side and bottom of the pot as you go.

Once the onion and shallot are sautéed, it's time to add back in some liquid. Add the 2 cups of red wine, and allow the mixture to cook on the stovetop on high heat until it reduces. "Any type of red wine is welcome here," says Marshall. "It can be leftover red wine or anything you have on hand. There's no need to use anything expensive."

Once the wine has reduced, pour in the beef stock. Stir in the chopped thyme and rosemary, and then season the mixture with salt and pepper. Cook the au jus until it reduces by half. Once the au jus is ready, slice the prime rib roast, and serve each slice with the thick au jus.

Of course, Bobby Flay knows his way around the kitchen. After all, he's been cooking for television shows since the 1990's. We would never want to mess with a good thing, right?

The main difference here is added flavor. Marshall took Flay's tried and true recipe and simply took it up a notch with additional herbs and vegetables. "Thyme and rosemary are such complementary flavors," says Marshall. "It just made sense to add rosemary while cooking the roast and to the au jus to give the roast even more of that wow factor."