Pot Roast Italienne Recipes

CLASSIC ITALIAN BEEF POT ROAST

Steps:

• Prepare Marinade (24-36 hours in advance): Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onions, and carrot and saute for 7 to 8 minutes, or until they are lightly caramelized. Add garlic, bay leaves, rosemary sprigs, and whole peppercorn, pour in wine, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer liquid for 5 minutes to infuse wine. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Season the meat, on all sides, generously with salt. Place in a large gallon size freezer bag, and carefully pour the room-temperature red wine marinade into bag, along with all of the aromatics. Place on a small baking sheet and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Turn meat a few times during the marinade process.
• Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C) and place a rack in lower third of oven. Remove the pot roast from the marinade, place on a rack on top of a baking sheet to drain (you want to save any marinade that drips from the meat for cooking later). Pat the meat thoroughly with paper towels, you want it to be relatively dry in order for it to brown well.
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add meat, and sear on all sides, using large kitchen tongs to turn it. It will take anywhere from 12 to 20 minutes total. It should be a relatively dark sear (especially due to the wine marinade). Transfer meat to a 3 or 4-quart Dutch oven.
• Discard any fat in the skillet, and wipe it with a clean paper towel. Return skillet to medium-high heat and add the brandy-be extremely careful and stand back, as alcohol can ignite. Bring brandy to a boil, scraping bottom of skillet to deglaze any brown bits on bottom of pan. Reduce liquid to roughly 2 tablespoons. Strain the marinade into the skillet (reserve vegetables), and bring to a boil. Boil marinade until it is reduce to about a cup. Add stock, and boil again to reduce by half. Remove from heat.
• Place pancetta (or bacon, if using) under or next to the seared pot roast in the Dutch oven pot. Place the reserved vegetables from the marinade around the meat (you can also push some under the meat too). Pour over the reduced braising liquid, cover with a sheet of parchment paper so that it nearly touches the meat, and cover tightly with lid.
• Place pot into the oven, checking after 15 to 20 minutes to ensure it is very slowly simmering (not simmering too quickly). Reduce heat by 10°F to 15°F if simmering too quickly. Braise the roast for 2½ to 3½ hours, turning it once halfway through the braising time.
• To finish: Lift pot roast carefully and place on platter to catch juices. Strain braising liquid into a saucepan (reserve pancetta and garlic)-discard any other vegetables. Skim and discard most fat from the braising liquid, and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes, tasting as you go. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Meanwhile, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the head of garlic, and smash into a paste using a fork. Pull apart the pancetta. Tear into small shreds, and add this to the sauce along with the smashed garlic.
• Remove kitchen string from pot roast, and carve on an angle to produce ½-thick slices, and serve with sauce and mashed potatoes.

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.

TOP-RATED ITALIAN POT ROAST

Steps:

• Place cinnamon stick, peppercorns, cloves and allspice on a double thickness of cheesecloth. Gather corners of cloth to enclose spices; tie securely with string., In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides; transfer to a 4-qt. slow cooker. Add celery, carrots and spice bag., Add onion to same skillet; cook and stir until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add sherry, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until liquid is reduced to 2/3 cup. Stir in tomatoes and salt; pour over roast and vegetables., Cook, covered, on low 6-7 hours or until meat and vegetables are tender. Remove roast from slow cooker; keep warm. Discard spice bag; skim fat from sauce. Serve roast and sauce with noodles and parsley if desired., Freeze option: Place sliced pot roast in freezer containers; top with sauce. Cool and freeze. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a covered saucepan, stirring gently and adding a little broth if necessary.

SET-IT-AND-FORGET-IT POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• With the tip of a paring knife, make ten 3/4-inch-deep slits on each side of the roast. Insert a garlic clove half into each slit. Season the meat all over with the salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Gently set the roast in it and sear all over, turning with tongs, until well browned, about 14 minutes. Remove the meat from the pan to a plate.
• Add the carrots, onions and bay leaves to the pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring up the crispy bits at the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until the wine is reduced by half. Return the roast to the pot, laying it on top of the vegetables. Add enough chicken stock to cover the roast by three-quarters. Cover and roast for 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Flip the meat over and add the potatoes. Cover and continue cooking until the potatoes are tender but not mushy and the meat is fall-apart tender, 45 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the roast.
• Remove the roast and vegetables to a platter. Season the meat with additional salt. Pour the sauce into a gravy boat and pass with the meat and vegetables.

ULTIMATE POT ROAST

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Pat roast dry with a paper towel; tie at 2-in. intervals with kitchen string. Sprinkle roast with pepper and 1-1/2 teaspoons salt. In a Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown roast on all sides. Remove from pan., Add onions, celery and 1/2 teaspoon salt to the same pan; cook and stir over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until onions are browned. Add garlic, tomato paste, thyme and bay leaves; cook and stir 1 minute longer., Add wine, stirring to loosen browned bits from pan; stir in broth. Return roast to pan. Arrange potatoes, parsnips and carrots around roast; bring to a boil. Bake, covered, until meat is fork-tender, 2-2-1/2 hours., Remove roast and vegetables from pan; keep warm. Discard bay leaves; skim fat from cooking juices. On stovetop, bring juices to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced by half (about 1-1/2 cups), 10-12 minutes. Stir in vinegar and parsley; season with salt and pepper to taste., Remove string from roast. Serve with vegetables and sauce.

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 (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.