Pot Roast of Beef, Italian Style and How to Cook a Chuck Roast

I used to have this tag line that caused a lot of controversy.

Food a woman would love, and a man would marry her for.

Some people didn’t get what I was trying to say. Some thought it was sexist, which is sad to me, because cooking and eating is really a non-gender activity in today’s world. The picture I was hoping to paint was that the food was heavy enough, hardy enough for a man, and at the same time, light enough, body friendly enough for a woman who wants good food. (I know that sounds sexist too, but don’t jump all over me for reality).

It was never to paint a picture of a woman as some kind of kitchen slave with a gorilla type husband forcing her to chop and mop.

That almost makes me laugh, because I’m married to a guy that does his equal share of “house stuff” even though I do most of the cooking. If cooking was his thing, he’d be right along side of me, but the only things he makes very well are his famous guacamole and chili.

We aren’t exactly Chip and Joanna, but we do work like a great team, most recently doing some remodeling in our kitchen. Together we painted our kitchen cabinets (with a spayer)  to bring them up to date, repaired dry wall, removed old counter tops, pulled out cabinets we didn’t want, painted and  hung floating shelves. We ended up buying a lot of tools and doing more than we thought we ever could. We spent big where we needed to and bargain hunted along the way.

We are surprising ourselves, and in the coming weeks, I will reveal our kitchen and all the things we learned. I did professional decorative painting for ten years. That added to our recent experience, I can give you all the perfect tips on how to paint your cabinets so stay tuned. You might want to subscribe not to miss the posts I’ll be calling Spinach Tiger at Home.

During the remodel, my oven broke and instead of paying to fix it, we decided to purchase a new stove.  I probably put 20 years of use on it in the 8 years of its life.  After a lot of research, I knew I still wanted a gas cooktop, but I was never going back to a gas oven. I discovered you can’t really get true convection with a gas oven, and today’s electric convection ovens have gotten better and more versatile. I

I went with  Bosch, dual fuel range and this is the first meal I made in the oven.

I couldn’t be happier with this choice. The oven temperature ranges from 85 degrees to 550 degrees, and has 10 modes, including warm, proof, convection Multi-Rack. So far, I’m pretty impressed and can’t wait to do some baking.

What cut of meat is best for a pot roast? I like chuck roast, which comes the front portion of the animal. There is a lot of connective tissue which will break down during the slow braising process, added collagen rich gelatin to the broth. Cook slow and low and the meat will yield and become fork tender.

After browning the roast, I prepared a mirepoix, which is traditionally onion, celery and carrots and the base for so many good dishes.  I then added wine and tomatoes.  I love the flavor that a can of tomatoes and red wine give the meat, but you could use a beef broth. The meat braised for several hours in a dutch oven on very low, but you could easily put it in a crock pot at this point.

This is best served with mashed potatoes, but you can go completely low carb and braise green beans right in the sauce for the last hour. I’ve also made this with mashed cauliflower, and I couldn’t tell the difference (recipe coming, but it’s simple. Boil, drain, and mash with just olive oil, salt and pepper.)

This makes that perfect dish. It’s man food and woman food!

That was a time when this kind of meal wouldn’t have come without a lot of care, growing the tomatoes, preserving them, growing vegetables and raising cattle. I have a heart full of gratitude that my cooking experience is so easy and has so many choices. If you can, make double, and freeze the meat for all kinds of beefy meals. Check out my favorite left over roast beef recipes. One idea is this great Italian Beef Macaroni Soup. 

Tell me what is your favorite thing to do with left over roast beef? I’m thinking pot roast sandwich on Italian roll.

Print Recipe

3 from 1 vote

Paleo Pot Roast of Beef, Italian Style with Slow Cooker Option

An Italian take on pot roast of beef.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs

Total Time4 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 10

Author: Angela Roberts

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3-4 pound chuck roast
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 cups diced onions
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced carrots
• 1 large can Italian tomatoes
• 2 cups red wine
• salt
• pepper
• fresh herbs mix of any of the following
• rosemary thyme, parsley, oregano

Instructions

• Season meat with salt and pepper.
• Add oil to dutch oven or large frying pan.
• Brown meat on medium high heat. Set aside.
• In a separate pan, add butter. Once melted add onions, celery and carrots.
• Reduce heat to low and cook for five minutes.
• Add in wine. Cook for ten minutes.
• Chop the tomatoes and add to pan with the juices.
• Put beef back into dutch oven or into crock pot.
• Add tomato mixture.
• Dutch oven can be covered and placed in oven at 300 degrees F for 4 hours.
• Or into a crock pot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Please follow me on instagram. If you make this recipe,  please tag me #spinachtiger.

If you love this recipe, please give it five stars. It means a lot. xoxo

Other Beef Dishes from Spinach Tiger

Roast Beef with Italian Mashed Potatoes

Paleo Beef Vegetable Soup

Paleo Beef Stew

Beef and Veal Shepherd’s Pie

Homemade Beef Vegetable Soup with Einkorn Wheat Berries and Bone Broth