Red Wine and Tomato Pot Roast

I adapted this recipe from a crock pot recipe I've had since I was 19. The original called for canned condensed tomato soup...but I wasn't comfortable with using it because of the preservatives found in the major brands, so I switched up the recipe a bit. It was a resounding success, even the extremely picky 83 year old Norwegian ate it and said it was delicious.

I should also note that I'm in the process of trying to clear out my freezer, so the cut of beef I used for this wouldn't be my ideal choice, but it made for nice pictures.

I've also included tips into this recipe for making it in a crock pot instead of on the stove top, like I did. Be sure and read through any recipe from beginning to end before getting started!

 Red Wine and Tomato Pot Roast

Ingredients:
1 uncooked beef roast 2-4 lb.
(cut of your choice, I prefer a chuck roast but a rump roast is pictured)
3-4 Tbs AP flour
salt and pepper
6 carrots
2 small onions
1 can diced tomatoes
2 Tbs tomato paste
3 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 tsp Herb de Provence
1 bottle of red wine (I've used Cabernet, Pinot Noir and Merlot for this and they all work)

Coat your roast in flour, salt and pepper. And add your olive oil to your dutch oven over medium high heat. If you would like to do this recipe in a crock pot, I would still do this step but in a skillet to add depth to the flavor of your roast.

Place your roast in the oil, fat side down first.

While your roast is browning away, slice up your onions and chop your carrots into large chunks (just wash them, if they're small, no need to peel).

Make sure your roast gets a nice brown to it before flipping and try to get it browned on all sides. This may require some creative use of the sides of the pan to prop it up.

Once your roast is browned, remove it and set aside. Add your veggies and reduce heat to medium. If you're going for the crock pot method, this is the point where you would place your roast in the crock pot and add all of the other ingredients. Feel free to add potatoes tot he crock pot, too. I cooked mine separately.

Cook your veggies until the onions start to get soft and start to get translucent. 

Add your tomato paste and stir it in to combine.

Now add your red wine. Add the whole bottle and then use a wooden spoon to scrape all the yummy browned bits off the bottom of your pan.

Let the wine come up to a good bubble while stirring occasionally and be sure to keep scraping along the bottom of your pan to be sure there aren't any bits of flour or other good stuff stuck to the bottom that the wine has loosened.

After letting the wine boil for a few minutes, add your undrained can of tomatoes and your garlic.

Add your Herbs de Provence. A little of this goes a fairly long way, so a teaspoon or so is plenty.

Stir it all in to your wine mixture.

Now time to add your roast back to the pot. Turn it over to ensure that its coated in the wine mixture.

Don't worry that the liquid doesn't completely cover the roast. It will all still cook evenly, plus if you're like me, you'll have to check on it once in a while, so you can just turn it over in the liquid then.

Cover and let simmer on very low heat for 4-6 hours. It should be at a slow bubble, not a boil. In the crock pot, I would suggest low for 6-8 hours, especially if you're using the rump roast. They take a really long time to get tender. If you're using a chuck roast, you can reduce the cooking time. The easiest way to gauge doneness is stick a fork into the meat and see if it begins to fall apart. If it does, you're good to go. You are welcome to add potatoes into the pot, as well. 6-8 medium potatoes peeled and diced into fairly large chunks. I cooked mine separately for this recipe because we ended up with surprise dinner company who is allergic to beef so we ate the roast the next night.

This one is usually a crowd pleaser. Even the 9 year old, who won't usually eat things cooked in wine, cleaned his plate. Hope you guys like it and if you have any questions for converting it to the crock pot for cooking, feel free to ask away in the comments section!