| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 3 hr |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 3 hr 20 min |
| Prep: | 20 min |
| Cook: | 3 hr |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (4 to 5-pound) prime boneless beef chuck roast, tied
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- All-purpose flour
- Good olive oil
- 2 cups chopped carrots (4 carrots)
- 2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)
- 2 cups chopped celery (4 stalks)
- 2 cups chopped leeks, white and light green parts (2 to 4 leeks)
- 5 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2 cups good red wine, such as Burgundy
- 2 tablespoons Cognac or brandy
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes in puree
- 1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1 chicken bouillon cube
- 3 branches fresh thyme
- 2 branches fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
- Pat the beef dry with a paper towel. 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 Cognac and bring to a boil. Add the tomatoes, chicken stock, bouillon cube, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. 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 2 1/2 hours, until the meat is fork tender or about 160 degrees F internally. Turn the heat down to 250 degrees F after about an hour to keep the sauce at a simmer.
- Remove the roast to a cutting board. Remove the herb bundle 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.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 770 |
| Total Fat | 49 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Carbohydrates | 25 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 161 mg |
| Sodium | 1359 mg |
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 770 |
| Total Fat | 49 g |
| Saturated Fat | 19 g |
| Carbohydrates | 25 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 47 g |
| Cholesterol | 161 mg |
| Sodium | 1359 mg |
Reviews
Second time I’ve made this and it’s still as good. Didn’t use all the ingredients listed but what I had. Definitely had to cook it longer than specified to get the pull apart texture
Used Bottom Round. Cooking time is a guide. Direction should say Until Fork Tender which is what I did. I used leftover sauce with a Salisbury Steak improvisation. Next time no tomatoes. Hubby and I both died of heartburn!
I’m not a big pot roast fan, but I think this recipe could change anyone’s mind. The meat just absorbs all the good flavors and the sauce is superb here; like like your plate good.
Time consuming but outstanding flavor and well worth every second of the prep and cooking time.
Delicious! Made it the day before to let the flavors meld overnight, added halved baby Yukon gold potatoes with the liquids (they helped thicken the sauce), Grand Marnier instead of Cognac, no leeks. Reheated on cook top – did NOT puree half the sauce/veggies – and served directly from my Dutch oven.
Followed the recipe to a “T” EXCEPT I forgot to buy the Leeks so I substituted 6 shallots instead and didn’t use the bouillon cube because of an earlier remark. I did use Kosher salt and did not find this a bit salty. This was delicious; the meat was tender, and delicious but the gravy was very greasy. I’ve never had a pot roast with a tomato-based “gravy”, but the beef to tomato ratio yielded a very beefy tomato sauce which we enjoyed. I always like to let recipes of this nature ” rest” as it tends to promote a melded result. So I refrigerated the lot and, in the morning, the fat had congealed and was easily disposed. The meat was easy to slice into meal-size portions. The gravy was also portioned and now there are several packets of delicious leftovers to enjoy in the future. I’d make it again, but we have enough leftovers to satisfy us for a bit.
I used all the ingredients except for the whole tomatoes with purée. The only ones I could find are the ones already crushed with puree. The roast was whatever I could find at the grocery store at the same size. I kept reading the instructions about how long to cook the roast and never got clarity. I went with 2 hours at 325. I think it was supposed to be turned down to 250 for the last hour. Either way, the 2 hours was plenty. Note: The instructions in Ina’s cookbook are exactly as it’s written here. It wasn’t pull apart fork tender but, not tough either. If I had cooked it more, I think it would have been. The sauce was very chunky with all the leeks and other vegetables for my taste. So, I took out as many carrots as I could (cut them chunky) and blended the rest. This thickened the sauce so there was no need to add flour or butter at the end. There will be way more sauce than you need for the roast. Unfortunately, the extra will get trashed because we never find reasons to use extra sauce. I won’t make this again.
This is the first of Ina’s recipes that I won’t make again. Even though I used prime chuck, the meat was stringy. Also not a fan of the tomato gravy. Disappointed.
Ina is the best but this grossed me out. The meat was so fatty but flavor was good. Is there such a thing as a lean pot roast??
Made this as a Christmas request from my brother for “a comfort food like mom used to make” when we were kids in the early 70s. I used a giant 5-lb butcher cut. My minor tweaks were: substituted the white ends of large scallions for leeks (out of them at three grocery stores); sautéed the onions first until translucent; spiked the sauce with about 1/4 cup of Worcestershire Spice; did not add carrots until after the first 60 minutes, and used amazingly sweet Nantes carrots; added some small Yukon potatoes with the carrots and also roasted some of those potatoes as a side dish to help sop up the amazing sauce!
This is a great recipe and will be a keeper in the rotation. It was as comforting as mom’s but actually better….❤️