The New Basics
- 3 T. olive oil
- 2 lbs. beef bottom round roast (any kind of pot roast is fine)
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 4 cloves garlic, slivered, plus 1 T. minced garlic
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 can (28 oz.) plum tomatoes, drained
- 3 T. tomato paste
- 1 t. freshly ground black pepper
- ½ t. salt
- ½ t. dried thyme leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ cup dry red wine
- ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the pot roast and brown on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan, and set aside.
Add the onions, carrots, celery, and slivered garlic and sauté until soft, 10 minutes. Remove the vegetables and set aside.
Set a rack in the bottom of the pot and place the roast on top. Pour the stock into the pot. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 350.
Remove the roast and the rack from the dutch oven, and cut the meat into ¼ inch thick slices (they will be quite rare). Return the slices to the pot, layering them evenly.
Crush the plum tomatoes slightly, and add them to the pot along with the tomato paste, the 1 t. minced garlic, pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaf, red wine, and reserved vegetables. Bring to a boil, transfer tot he oven, and bake, covered, until the meat falls apart, 1 ½ hours.
Remove the meat and bay leaf from the pot, allow to cool slightly. Discard the bay leaf. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Add the parsley, and heat through.
Serve over hot pasta. Makes 6 portions.
Eat On Edgecliff 