Pot Roast with Vegetable Gravy

I used my Dutch oven to make pot roast tonight...shhh - don't tell my crockpot. Sundays are typically crockpot days, but Ina Garten has a wonderful pot roast recipe that is done in a Dutch oven so the decision had to be made.

Ingredients:

• 1 (2-3 pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour
• Good olive oil
• 2 chopped carrots
• 1 chopped yellow onion
• 2 chopped celery stalks
• 1 chopped leek
• 3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1 cup good red wine, I used a Cab
• 14 ounces whole plum tomatoes in puree (canned)
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 beef bouillon cube
• 2 branches fresh thyme
• 2 branches fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Directions (adapted from Ina's recipe)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. I used kitchen twine to bind up the little sucker. This was like beef bondage - very hot. Season the roast all over with 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Dredge the whole roast in flour, including the ends. In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the roast and sear for 4 to 5 minutes, until nicely browned. Turn and sear the other side and then turn and sear the ends. This should take 4 to 5 minutes for each side. Remove the roast to a large plate.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the Dutch oven. Add the carrots, onions, celery, leeks, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper and cook over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender but not browned.

Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, beef broth, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. 

At this point your kitchen smells amazing and you will be sad because you are still a few hours
away from dinner.

Tie the thyme and rosemary together with kitchen string and add to the pot. 

Put the roast back into the pot, bring to a boil, and cover. 

Place in the oven for an hour, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 300 degrees F for another 40 minutes to keep the sauce at a simmer. Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle and twine and discard. 

Skim off as much fat as possible from the sauce. Transfer half the sauce and vegetables to a blender or a food processor fitted with the steel blade and puree until smooth. Pour the puree back into the pot, place on the stovetop over low heat, and return the sauce to a simmer. Place 2 tablespoons flour and the butter in a small bowl and mash them together with a fork. Stir into the sauce and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thickened. 

Taste for seasonings. Remove the strings from the roast, and slice the meat. Serve warm with the sauce spooned over it.

Yum! This is a delicious meal on a chilly fall evening. I had a fair amount of leftover gravy so I am freezing and will buy a small cut of leaner meat and roast in the sauce for a quick weeknight meal. Pot roast meat (usually chuck roast) is quite fatty; next time I am trying a leaner cut. Serve with potatoes!