This recipe should be called “Winging a Pot Roast Tagliatelle” because that is exactly what I did. I am still pretty new to cooking with meat but thought I would have no trouble finding a chuck roast at my grocery store. Instead, they had eye of round roast. I asked my butcher what the difference was (one is from the shoulder, the other the leg) when it comes to cooking and he looked at me blankly. I asked about cooking time, tenderness, how to go about making it. He told me he was a terrible cook and had no idea. Great.
Thanks to some help from friends on Facebook I discovered the eye of round pot roast is much more tender. I did not want to fuss with the recipe that much but I did add more liquid and fat to the braising sauce to keep my roast protected, especially since it was a much smaller roast than was called for.
As a result, I will write up the recipe as it appears in the The Glorious Pasta of Italy for you but do not be afraid to play around with it if the same things happens to you! Man, butchers are getting more and more useless these days. We have to rely on ourselves and play around with things to get it right.
Homemade Tomato Sauce
This recipe makes five cups of sauce, I made half the recipe but will write it out in full for you.
Warm 2 cloves of lightly crushed garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large saucepan on medium heat. Swirl to infuse oil and when the garlic begins to sizzle (as photographed above) carefully pour in…
… 2 28-oz/800g of diced tomatoes with their juice. Stir to coat with the oil.
Add 1 tsp salt, raise heat to medium high, bring to a simmer.
When juices start bubbling, reduce heat and simmer uncovered, stirring from time to time for 30 minutes.
Add 5 torn large basil leaves.
The Pot Roast
Season 1 boneless 2 1/2 to 3 lbs chuck roast and sear in a hot pan (cast iron Dutch oven if you have it) in hot vegetable oil. Brown on all sides. Remove from pan.
Finely chop 1 large yellow onion, 2 peeled carrots, 2 celery ribs and lightly crush 2 cloves of garlic.
Reduce heat to medium and add the veggies. Saute for 10 minutes. (I also lightly seasoned them.)
Stir in 1 1/2 tsp of finely chopped fresh thyme.
Pour in 1 cup dry white wine and 1 cup of water.
Add 1 cup of your homemade tomato sauce. Season lightly. Bring sauce to a simmer.
Because I do not have a cast iron Dutch oven (yet!) I put my roast in a casserole dish.
Then I covered with the sauce. I put the lid on the dish and put in a preheated 325F oven for two hours, turning the meat every now and then.
Yay! Despite being a smaller and more tender roast, this turned out great.
Pasta Time!
You are supposed to make pappardelle for this dish but I could only get tagliatelle. Cook 1 lb/455 g dried pappardelle in salted boiling water.
I heated up some of the sauce and added some of the meat to dress the pasta.
I strained the pasta, added it back to the pot with some of the sauce and a nice handful of Parmesan.
I added more sauce to the top and Parmesan, of course, and then feasted.
I was worried because everything looked so dry and not very “saucy” that I would not like this dish but it was quite the opposite. I could tell everything was slow roasted, tender, deep and luscious. Even though the dish seemed simple, it was deceiving. Complex flavour was there and this was so comforting. An absolute treat. If a dish is worth it, I don’t mind working on it all day. Thankfully, this is one of those dishes.
With the temperature falling and rainy dark days finally discovering us on the east coast, it will be dinners like this that keep me sane throughout the winter.
This looks absolutely delicious!! I will definitely be making this.
Yum! The perfect fall comfort food dish. Do you think it would work in a slow cooker too?
Hi Suzie, This sounds absolutely wonderful. I’m sorry you had such a lousy experience with your butcher. We’ve found that going to an actual butcher shop (as opposed to Loblaw’s meat counter) gets us much better meat, service, knowledge, etc. The butcher we use was raised in the butcher shop and really knows his stuff. Also, if we need a specific cut of meat, we only have to call him, and he’ll make sure we get it when we need it.
Hope you like it Amelia!
Laura, yes, so perfect for all and I do think you could finish it off in the slow cooker if you want. Just make sure to make the sauce and brown the meat ahead of time.
Nigel, glad you like the sound of the dish! Oh man, I hate talking to the butcher and almost every time it’s just a waste. He told me he cooks everything the same with a package of French onion soup until any kind of meat falls apart. Not helpful at all!
I wish there was a real butcher shop near me but this is the best I can do!
I like to use Pinterest to keep track of recipes I want to try,as well as share them, but none of the images from this post can be Pinned.
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Cindy, I know, it’s so frustrating! I have manually added a button underneath the top photo that you can pin. I hope that helps! I’ve written to Pinterest for an explanation and they never responded. Grr….
That looks so yummy! I am still smirking at your ‘butcher’ conversation. Onion soup has it’s place, but if he’s cooking all cuts of meat that way, he’s missing out. I really makes me sad when there is so much lack in information by the people selling us our food. I had a similar conversation with a ‘baker’ who had no idea what marzipan was or where I would find it in the store.
The first photo of the pasta and sauce in the white dish against the olives-themed tablecloth is PERFECT! Also, this recipe sounds de-lish — perfect for a fall or winter evening.
Heather, I know! And I mean, this is their job, it’s so frustrating. They always say ask your butcher and I did and once again, it is clear they know nothing about meat. Oh no way! Didn’t know what marzipan was?! Good grief!
Thank you so much Debra, I was so worried with the dark dreary skies the photo wouldn’t work but somehow… it did and even looks cheerful, LOL. 🙂 Makes me very happy.
Thanks, Susie. I know my family will love this!
Hope so Cindy! Enjoy!