I don’t know about you, but I love a pot roast in the fall and winter months. It makes for a cozy, earthy dinner that is easy enough to serve your family for a weeknight dinner if using a crock pot or elegant enough to serve guests at a dinner party. Pot roast takes me back to my childhood and the fond memories I have of sitting around the dinner table with my parents and sister and then as time went on our boyfriends, now husbands, would join us around that same dinner table. My mom still has the same beautiful table in her kitchen that she had when we were in middle school and high school. I honestly think I’d be sad if she ever got rid of that table … I love that table and the memories it brings back to me.

My daughter, Kylie, loves a pot roast. She’ll periodically ask if I can make “that roast that you add the red wine to.” I decided I’d make that roast tonight.

I started with a 3 pound boneless rump roast.

I seasoned the roast all over with kosher salt and pepper.

I set that aside while sautéing a large yellow onion, several carrots and a head of smashed garlic. I cooked the onion in a bit of olive oil until it had started to soften and the edges started to brown. (Note: I did this in my crockpot insert. If you do not have a crockpot with an insert that you can using for sautéing the vegetables and browning the meat on the stove top, use a Dutch oven for this purpose. You will add everything into your slow cooker once you are done with this process.)

Once the onion had cooked for about 5 minutes, I removed it from the pan to a plate. I then added 6 large carrots (unpeeled and cut into chunks) and cooked them for about 4 minutes. Once the carrots had cooked for four minutes, I added the cloves of one head of garlic. After peeling the garlic, I smashed the cloves with my kitchen mallet. I cooked the garlic with the carrots for just about a minute before removing the carrots and garlic to the plate with the onions.

I added a tablespoon of butter to the crock pot insert and let it melt. Once it had melted into the olive oil that remained in the pan, I added my meat for browning. I cooked it for a couple minutes on each side, until a nice crust started to form.

I removed the roast to the plate with the vegetables and added a container of beef stock (2 cups) and one cup of Cabernet Sauvignon wine to the crock pot.

I placed the carrots and onion (along with any juices accumulated onto the plate) back into the crock pot, nestling the roast on top. I then added a pound of white mushrooms (stems removed and caps kept whole) to the crock pot, spooning some of the liquid over the mushrooms.

I placed several sprigs each of rosemary and thyme to the crockpot and added a can of San Marzano whole tomatoes (juices included), crushing them by hand as I added them.

At this point, I placed the crockpot insert into the crockpot on the counter. I then placed the lid on the crockpot and set it to cook on low for 8 hours.

With two hours left to go in the cooking process, I added a pound of Dutch potatoes, that I had cut into chunks.

We served this with a nice, crusty loaf of bread.

Ingredients

3-5 pound beef roast

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 large onion

1 head garlic

6 carrots

1 pound white mushrooms

2 cups beef stock

1 cup red wine

4-6 rosemary sprigs

4-6 thyme sprigs

28-1/2 ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes

1 pound Dutch potatoes

Directions

1. Sprinkle roast with kosher salt and pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in insert to crock pot. If you don’t have a crock pot with an insert that you can brown in, use a Dutch oven for browning your vegetables and meat.
3. Cut onion in half and then into thick slices. Cut carrots into chunks, without peeling. Remove stems from mushrooms, leaving mushroom caps whole. Peel and smash garlic. You can smash the garlic with the handle of a large knife or a mallet.
4. Brown onion for 4-5 minutes, until  it starts to soften and brown. Remove to a plate.
5. Place carrots into crockpot and cook for 4 minutes. Add garlic to carrots and cook for one minute. Remove to the plate with the onion.
6. If crockpot is dry, add another tablespoon of olive oil, along with a tablespoon of butter. Brown meat on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. Remove to plate with vegetables.
7. Add beef stock and wine to crockpot. Place onion and carrots into crock pot, topping with meat. Nestle meat into liquid. Add mushrooms to the top of the meat, spooning some of the liquid over the mushrooms.
8. Place sprigs of rosemary and thyme over the top.
9. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands as you add to the crockpot. Add all juice from the can.
10. Set crockpot insert into crock pot on counter, place lid on top and set to cook on low for 8 hours.
11. Cut potatoes into large chunks.
12. With two hours to go in the cooking time, add the potatoes into the crockpot.

Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris