Italian Pot Roast & A Spin-Off Recipe

So lately I have been terrible at planning our dinners! Everything is last minute and thrown together. But now that the weather is cooler I decided to dust off my cookbooks and start making some cool weather favorites. Tonight we are having some Italian Pot Roast from the cookbook "Kitchen Life" by Art Smith (Oprah's Personal Chef). I've made this recipe before and it's pretty good! I usually make my Pot Roast with brown gravy etc and this is a nice twist. Plus the left-overs can be used in a different dish the next night ;) So here it is...

Italian Pot Roast

~ 2 TB olive oil, or more if needed
~ One 3 3/4 lb bottom round beef roast
~ 1 large onion chopped (I used half this and used a chopper to finely dice
~ 1 Med Carrot, diced (I omitted)
~ 1 Med Celery Rib, diced (I omitted this as well)
~ 2 Garlic Cloves
~ 3/4 Cup dry red wine, such as Zinfandel or Shiraz
~ One 28oz Can tomatoes in thick puree, chopped
~ 1 tsp dried oregano
~ 1 tsp dried basil

This recipe called for using a dutch oven over the stove-top, but I like my pot roast falling apart, so I used a crock pot (slow-cooker). If you would like the stove-top recipe email me and I will send it to you!

I just heated the oil on the stove-top at medium heat. I took the roast, rinsed and dried with a paper towel. Then I rubbed it with a little salt and pepper and then seared all sides. You want to wait at least 5 min per side before turning over. You want all that flavor seared into the meat to keep all the juices in while cooking!

While I was searing the meat I cut up my onions, garlic and veggies (if you're using them). I put my tomatoes, wine and herbs right into the slow-cooker and stirred. Then I added my diced veggies and garlic. Once the meat was done I put it into the slow-cooker as well. To add a little more flavor to the sauce I took my empty tomato can and filled it with about a 1/2 cup water and poured into the pan to de-glaze all the browned bits of flavor and then poured that in the crock as well. Just make sure to turn on your oven's fan and stand back when pouring the water in!!

I turned the slow-cooker on high, placed an old kitchen towel on top (my cooker splatters) and voila! I will most likely serve with some steamed green beans.

Best of all, you can chop up the leftovers and toss with some penne the next night! Just chop the leftover roast, add some sauce along with your regular pasta sauce, a little basic and some Parmesan and you have another easy dinner! Enjoy!!