tonight's dinner -italian pot roast

in my last post i promised you some upcoming food blogging and here we are. aren't you feeling lucky now?

i was at the grocery store today feeling like i needed something substantial for dinner and what is better than pot roast with an italian flair. as with any pot roast, the cut of meat is a very affordable choice in our now penny pinchful lives. this is a chuck roast, good marbling, lots of fat to slowly cook the roast down into moist meatfulness.

italian pot poast

serves 2 to 4 with leftovers for next day sammiches

3-4 pound chuck roast

2 tbl olive oil

1 large onion

2 stalks celery

3 medium sized carrots

1 head of garlic

2 tbl tomato paste (i get the roasted garlic kind)

14oz can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes

1/2c water

1c good red wine (i used an italian port)

a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary

salt/pepper

preheat your oven to 350degF

heat your olive oil in a dutch oven until it starts to smoke. while waiting for that, pat the chuck roast dry, salt and pepper it well and tie it up with cotton butcher's string to keep it together during the braising.

when the oil is hot place the roast in the dutch oven and brown it well, turning it on all sides, for about 8-10 minutes.

next, dice your onion, celery and carrots and smash all the cloves of one head of garlic, removing the peels.

when the roast is browned, transfer it to a plate to let sit. toss the onions, celery, carrots and garlic in the dutch oven and saute on high for a few minutes until they all wilt somewhat.

add in the tomato paste, stirring it to coat the vegetables and cook another few minutes. then add the tomatoes, thyme, water and 1/2c of the wine and let this begin to boil, stirring occasionally.

when everything begins to boil, add the roast back in, cover the dutch oven and put it in the pre-heated oven for 2-3 hours (timing depending on how large your roast is) to braise.

after it is done in the oven, remove the roast from the pot and let the meat sit covered with aluminum foil for 10-15 minutes.

place the pot back on the stove top, remove the thyme and use a potato masher to coarsely mash the sauce that has been created. the garlic will help to thicken it. pour the remaining wine in the pot, add in the rosemary and let it simmer on low, uncovered, while the meat rests.

after 15 minutes, pull/slice big slabs the roast and plate them, pouring the sauce over top.

i was able to make enough sauce to use it for spaghetti tomorrow.