Italian Pot Roast

[hippywife]

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/004316italian_pot_roast.php

We never had this growing up and I tried it for the first time last fall, I think. It's delicious! Last weekend, I was craving some of it and I had a ton of over ripe tomatoes from the neighbors, carrots and basil from my own garden, and elephant garlic from a friend's garden. I didn't have a roast but I did, however, have a package of bison ribs in the freezer. The only wine I had were two small bottles of champagne someone had given us at New Years.

I let the ribs thaw overnight, diced the tomatoes, skin and all, the carrots, and onion, julienned the basil and threw everything together in my crockpot for the day. I didn't use th parsley, sage or bay leaves (I can't seem to like bay flavoring for some reason) and I didn't have any celery. This was truly delicious! It cooked down so beautifully, there was no evidence at all that the tomato skins and seeds were in it. It was nice and thick and rich.

The ribs were only about a pound or so, they were eaten the first night. We had spaghetti with the leftover sauce the next night and last night I even used it on pizza. It was very, very good. And I still have about a cup of it left in the freezer.

I just used what I had at hand and only used the recipe as a guide.

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Doing it in the crockpot...

Did you brown the roast first, like in the recipe?

And what temp setting and for how long in the crock? We're going to make this tomorrow! :bounce:

:hi:

[hippywife]

2. I didn't do any of the normal browning.

I just threw everything in the crockpot together. Granted it would benefit from the browning some but the sauce was still very dark and rich, I'm guessing from starting it on high and also from cooking it with the rib bones in it. Make sure to dice all your veggies very small so they will cook down well. You'll still have very bitty pieces of carrot and onion and, if you want a smoother sauce you can run it through the food processor a little at a time before eating it but I didn't think that was necessary.

I'm not sure how your crockpot settings run mine has setting for 4 hrs., 6 hrs., 8 hrs., and 10 hrs., and adjusts the temp accordingly. I sent it on 4 hrs. (higher temp) just to kick it off and about an hour or so later, I turned it down to 10 hrs. (lower temp). After about 4 hours, I turned it back up for another hour, then turned it back down for another two. I cooked it for about 7 hours total.

Hope you guys enjoy it! It's great with a side of pasta and a salad. :hi:

[bicentennial_baby]

3. Sweet! Thanks so much!

I'll be sure to report back. :)

[hippywife]

4. I did forget one thing...

and you can still do this if you have them, but I also tossed in a bunch of fennel seeds, maybe a tablespoon worth.

Look forward to hearing how it came out. :9

[bicentennial_baby]

5. Nice, I will!

I'm going to start it up soon, after I eat some lunch.

:)

[hippywife]

6. You must be night owls

coz that's going to put you at about ten p.m. for it to be done.