Italian Pot Roast

Braised, slow-cooked meats always remind me of my grandmom. The wonderful aroma from all-day cooking, the rich flavors, and the meat that just melts when you eat it. When we ate this pot roast, my mom said it was like eating her mother's food.

I was inspired to make this recipe by a recipe I saw on the blog What's Cooking Chicago. I changed it from a crockpot recipe to a stovetop and oven recipe, and also used the cooking method from my Guinness Beef Stew Recipe. The original recipe did not call for searing the beef, but I really like searing any meats before any sort of slow cooking which is the main reason I made the changes I did. Below is my adaptation.

Note: I gave this post a one-pot tag; although 2 pots are used, it ultimately cooks for hours in just one pot, so by the time you eat the first pan is already washed and put away!

Ingredients

• 6 slices of bacon
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• Handful of white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large potatoes, chopped into large pieces
• One 3-lb pot roast
• Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning (I love McCormick's Perfect Pinch Italian Seasoning)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• One 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 c dry red wine
• 1.5 c beef broth
• 2 bay leaves
• Equipment: Dutch oven and a large stainless saute pan
  

Directions

• Put Dutch oven on stovetop over medium-high heat. Add bacon, cook until crispy. Remove bacon. Add carrots, celery, potatoes, mushrooms. Saute over medium heat for 10 minutes.
  
• Heat olive oil in the stainless pan. Season the beef with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Sear beef in pan until browned on all sides.
  
• Transfer the beef to the Dutch oven, nestling it into the veggies. Add tomatoes and broth.
  
• Back in the stainless pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add garlic and onions, saute 4-5 minutes. Add red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up all brown bits. Bring to a simmer for a few minutes, and then transfer wine/onion mixture to the Dutch oven.
  
• Add bay leaf to the Dutch oven and bring to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  
• Cover beef and transfer to the oven. I cooked it for a total of 5 hours - one hour on 300, two hours on 250, and two hours on 200. It was perfectly cooked and falling apart.
  
• Remove beef from the Dutch oven and let rest. Transfer the veggies to another dish. Let the sauce simmer on low until ready to serve.