Italian Pot Roast

Have you ever made something in something in your slow cooker that the aroma had you salivating for hours?  Have you ever made something sooooo good that when you finally ate it  you amazed yourself at its sheer deliciousness?  And it was so good that you thought about it for hours and days afterwards?  And the leftovers were squabbled over?  Well, this Italian pot roast was just that for us.  Steel yourself.  This was fabulous.

I had bought a just-under-three-pound chuck roast and then didn't know what to do with it.  It was on sale for half price and I just can't resist a good sale when it comes to meat.  I was expecting to fall back on my favorite New England pot roast, toyed with the idea of trying a homemade steak ranchero (we had just gone out for Mexican and my Sweet Pie had ordered it out so that was a no) so at the last minute I decided to venture out and try something new.  This may have been new to us but it will soon become an old favorite.

I made a couple of substitutions based on what I had on hand, but they are substitutions I would've done anyway.  I'll share my changes in COOK'S NOTES.

ITALIAN POT ROAST

1 three-to-four pound boneless chuck roast, excess fat removed
1 eight-ounce package fresh mushrooms, coarsely chopped  **
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 14-ounce can low-sodium beef broth
1 one-ounce envelope dried onion soup mix **
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 eight-ounce can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning **
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Place mushrooms and onion in the bottom of a 5-to-6 quart slow cooker.

Heat a fry pan over medium-high heat and add the oil.  Sprinkle pepper on the pot roast and then sear the beef on all sides.  Remove meat to the slow cooker.

Pour beef broth and tomato sauce over the beef .  Add the dried onion soup packet.   Cook on LOW for 5 to 6 hours or until meat shreds easily with a fork.

Somewhere in that time frame you're going to have to use your good judgment.  About thirty minutes or so before you think it's going to be done, remove the meat to your serving platter.  Add the tomato paste and the dried Italian seasoning to the gravy fixings that are in the slow cooker.  Make a slurry with the cornstarch and two tablespoons of water and stir into the gravy.  Continue cooking the remaining amount of time on high, until gravy is thickened.  You can add the roast back to the pot for a couple of minutes to reheat it, if you want.  Serve roast on a platter with some gravy; additional gravy can go in a separate bowl.

COOK'S NOTES:  Rarely do I ever have packaged dried onion soup mix on the pantry shelf.  I have way too many spices, herbs, and dried vegetables on my shelf not to make the best dried onion soup mix from what I have on hand. It is far superior to the prepackaged mix, in my opinion, and a couple minutes of my time is worth the result and big flavor.

I think white mushrooms would be nice in this, but I bought a package of cremini mushrooms.  They have a bolder flavor, in my opinion, and just stand up better with the rest of the ingredients in this recipe.

Dried Italian seasoning--nope, not happening.  All that is is a mix of Italian herbs expensively mixed and sold in a bottle for your convenience.  For this recipe, I added a good pinch of oregano, basil and thyme, and a bit of garlic.  Done.

I did NOT remove the meat to a separate platter while I made the gravy.  I like a thicker gravy so I know that two tablespoons of cornstarch is not nearly going to be enough, especially when I saw how much liquid there was in my slow cooker.  I made a slurry of 1/4 cup of cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water and just dumped it all in and it worked perfectly for me.  Of course, if you are timid about such things, you cook the roast until fall apart tender, remove all the liquid to a sauce pan and make gravy from there.  Add the meat back and serve.  No judgment from me, smiles.  You have to do what's right and comfortable for you.