Pot Roast Italian Style By Rose Food

ITALIAN POT ROAST (STRACOTTO ALLA FIORENTINA)

Steps:

• Trim some of the fat from the meat. Using a sharp knife, make cuts all over the meat and insert the garlic slices inside. Season generously with salt and pepper. If you like, you can tie the beef with kitchen strin, to help it keep it shape during cooking.
• In a large dutch oven pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides until a nice brown crust develops, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and reserve.
• Lower the heat to medium low. Add the veggies and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Then, add the wine and cook until it reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Add the marinara sauce and stir to combine. Then, add back the chuck roast and the basil leaves. Cover, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, turning the roast at least once, until fork tender. If you think the sauce is drying out, you can add some water of beef broth.
• When done, remove the basil leaves and discard. Transfer the meat to a chopping board, remove the kitchen string (if used) and cut into smaller pieces. The sauce should be thick enough, but if it's not, you can continue boiling over medium-high heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired thickness. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
• Serve the roast over creamy polenta (or mashed potatoes), garnished with chopped parsley.

STRACOTTO DI MANZO (ITALIAN POT ROAST)

Steps:

• Place dried porcini mushrooms in hot beef stock to reconstitute and soften for about 30 minutes.
• Season both sides of the beef with salt and pepper, plus any dried seasonings that you prefer.
• Pour olive oil into a large, deep cast iron dutch oven pot or a lined cast iron pot (such as Le Creuset).
• Add the beef to the pan to sear (brown) on each side for about 7 minutes, turning only once, totaling about 15 minutes. While beef is searing, sprinkle about a teaspoon of chopped garlic all over to saute with the beef.
• Remove beef from the pot and place on a platter.
• With a sharp knife, cut slits in the beef and insert the slices of garlic.
• In the hot olive oil, saute the chopped onions, carrots, celery, and pancetta.
• Then add the chopped garlic and saute for another 3 - 5 minutes, being very careful not to burn the garlic.
• Deglaze the pan with about 2 Tbsp. deep, dark red wine (merlot or burgundy) and simmer until the wine is reduced but not completely evaporated.
• Add 3 Tbsp. or more of tomato paste and the cans of imported Italian tomatoes and juice, squishing the tomatoes so that they fall apart as you pour them into the pot.
• Add all of the chopped herbs, except for the sprigs of thyme, rosemary, and Italian parsley which are added at the end of cooking.
• Gently stir everything together with a large spoon.
• Add the beef broth and red wine.
• Add the large cut up pieces of carrots, celery, and potatoes.
• Add the artichokes, roasted red pepper slices, and the crimini and porcini mushrooms.
• Place the garlic-studded beef roast back into the pot on top of the vegetables.
• Add a few sprigs of thyme and rosemary to the pot.
• Cover the pot with a lid and bake in the oven for 3 hours on 325 F degrees OR until fork tender (beef easily breaks up into pieces with a fork).
• Add the chopped Italian parsley for the last 5 minutes of cooking.
• After roasting is finished, remove from the oven and cover loosely and allow everything to rest for 10 minutes.
• Garnish with fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and minced Italian parsley.

ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium high heat.
• Pat roast dry and sprinkle on salt and pepper. Once the oil is shimmering hot, sear the meat on both ends and all the way around the outside. Total time about 15 minutes to sear the whole roast.
• Remove the roast to a plate and add the carrots, celery and onions and cook for five minutes, stirring often.
• Add the tomato paste and garlic and cook for two more minutes.
• Add wine to deglaze. Cook until the wine evaporates.
• Add the bay leaves, sundried tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, broth, thyme, oregano and basil and stir. Add the beef back in along with any liquid on the plate, cover and place in the oven for three hours, turning the beef over once about 1 ½ hours into the roasting time.
• After the full three hours, remove the meat, let it rest under a sheet of loose foil for 10 minutes.
• Remove and discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs then slice the beef and serve with the sauce.
• The string should be left on while slicing to hold the roast together. OK to cut off after sliced and plated.

BRAISED ITALIAN-STYLE POT ROAST

Steps:

• To prepare the sacchétto di spezie:
• Combine all the ingredients in the center of a piece of cheesecloth that is large enough to hold the herb sprigs, and tie in a bundle with butcher's string.
• To prepare the pot roast:
• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• 2. Season the beef with salt and pepper, then lightly dust with flour. Melt the butter in a large (6-quart) flameproof casserole set over medium-high heat. When it is foaming, add the beef and brown it on all sides, 5 minutes. Add the celery, onions, carrot, and sacchétto di spezie. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the bottle of wine. Cook until the wine begins to boil, about 2 more minutes, skimming off any fat that rises to the surface.
• 3. Strain the porcini mushrooms through a fine-mesh sieve, reserving the liquid. Rinse the mushrooms under cold running water to remove any grit, and add them to the casserole along with the strained mushroom liquid, tomato paste, and tomatoes. The liquid should just cover the meat. If it does not, add chicken broth or water. Cover the casserole and bake it in the oven until the meat is cooked through and tender, about 2 hours. Remove the meat from the casserole to a cutting board, cover with aluminum foil, and set aside.
• 4. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve and discard the vegetables and herb bag. Pour the broth back into the casserole and set it over high heat. Bring to a boil and add the arrowroot and the 1/4 cup wine. Cook to reduce and thicken the liquid, about 5 minutes. Carve the meat into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Serve immediately, spooning some of the broth over each portion.

ITALIAN POT ROAST (STRACOTTO)

Steps:

• Cut the garlic into thin slivers. Pierce the meat in many places with the point of a knife and insert the garlic slivers into the holes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3- to 4-quart heatproof casserole. Add the meat and brown it well over medium heat. Remove it from the casserole. Add the remaining oil and the onions, carrots and celery. Saute them until moderately brown.
• Stir in the wine and cook for a few minutes, scraping the casserole. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and basil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and return the meat to the casserole.
• Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for at least three hours, until the meat is very tender. Turn the meat a few times during cooking.
• Remove the meat from the casserole. To serve immediately, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, then puree the sauce in a food processor and reheat. Otherwise, refrigerate the meat and sauce overnight. Remove any congealed fat from the sauce and puree the sauce in a food processor. Reheat the meat in the sauce before serving.

ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• Cut roast in half. Place in a 5-qt. slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, onion, wine, salt, basil, oregano, garlic and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until meat is tender. , Remove meat to a serving platter; keep warm. Skim fat from cooking juices; transfer to a small saucepan. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth. Gradually stir into pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve with meat.

ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• With a sharp paring knife, cut 4 slits in beef roast; stuff slits with half the garlic. Generously season beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan. Cook beef until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.
• In a 5-quart slow cooker, combine beef, onion, potatoes, tomatoes (with puree), rosemary, and remaining garlic. Cover; cook on high setting until meat is fork-tender, about 6 hours (do not uncover while cooking).
• Transfer meat to a cutting board; thinly slice, and discard any gristle. Skim fat from top of sauce. To serve, divide beef and vegetables among bowls; generously spoon sauce over top.

HOMEMADE ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• Sprinkle flour into oven bag; shake to coat. Place in a 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan; add roast. In a small bowl, combine the water, tomato soup, soup mix, Italian seasoning and garlic; pour into oven bag., Cut six 1/2-in. slits in top of bag; close with tie provided. Bake at 325° for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender., Remove roast to a serving platter and keep warm. Transfer cooking juices to a small saucepan; skim fat. Bring to a boil. Combine cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into cooking juices. Return to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice roast; serve with gravy.

ITALIAN-STYLE POT ROAST

Steps:

• Make a paste of the garlic, salt, and pepper (use mortar and pestle); rub mixture all over the roast.
• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
• Brown the roast in the oil on all sides; remove roast from pan and set aside.
• Add the onion, celery, carrot, and rosemary to the pan; stir/saute until the vegetables are softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add in the wine; let the wine boil for about 1 minute.
• Add in the tomatoes and beef broth; stir to blend, then return the roast to the pan.
• Simmer (don't boil) the meat in the sauce for 45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 350°; place roast and sauce in a baking dish; bake, occasionally basting with sauce, for 90 minutes or until the meat is tender and is 170° on an instant-read thermometer.
• Remove from oven and let meat rest for 20 minutes.
• While the meat is resting, remove excess fat from sauce; boil the sauce down if it is thin.
• Remove the string from the roast, carve, and serve with the sauce drizzled over the top.