A pot roast is a perfect thing for a chilly day. It’s one of those meals tastes like you’ve been actively cooking for hours – but in reality, it only takes about 10 minutes of prep and then checking on it only every hour or so. Easy and delicious.
The problem I’ve always had with traditional pot roast recipes is that the veggies end up being over or underdone, as you want to set your cook time for the meat – the star of the show. If you cook all the veggies for as long as your meat, they’re too soft, but if you don’t have at least some in for the whole time you’ll miss the depth of flavor they infuse into your roast.
Welcome to my veggie compromise: my secret is to cook half the veggies the whole time – it flavors the roast and allows you to get that delicious soft and melty veggie base in your liquid, but add in the other half when you have 45 minutes to an hour left of cooking so you get some of the vegetables to serve with more structure. If you decide to add some fancypants purple veggies to the mix make sure to add those in the latter group, the longer you cook, the less vibrant the colors.
The perfect pot roast is within your reach. I prefer chuck, but realize that cuts with less marbling will take more babysitting as they are more prone to dry out.
Ingredients:
Roast (Chuck is best 3 to 4 lbs)
Salt and pepper to rub on
2 fresh springs or 1 tsp. dried rosemary
2 cups beef broth (or bone broth is even better)
1 cup dry white wine
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 garlic cloves (diced)
1 chopped onion
1 chopped shallot
5 chopped carrots (if you want to get fancy – add fun colors)
3 chopped celery stalks
4 russet or 8 baby potatoes – chopped in 1-inch cubes (also this is a great place to add some fancy – those purple potatoes are cool)
Step 1: Heat your dutch oven (this is mine, it’s clay – and I LOVE it) with oil in the bottom. Add half the onions and garlic, sauté until translucent.
Step 2: Brown your seasoned roast. Browning helps to lock in the moisture as well as add flavor.
Step 3: Add roast, liquid and the remaining half onion and chopped shallot. Then add half your celery, carrots and potato (you’ll add the rest in a bit – I like having some veggies that stay crisper – these will be the soft, melty ones). Cook on 350 for an hour and a half.
Step 4: Check on the roast. Add additional liquid if needed. Cook for another hour.
Step 5: Add remaining carrots, potato, and celery. Cook for additional 45 minutes to an hour.
