Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Pot roast, with sauce and "spaghetti"



This is my favorite pot-roast done in the crockpot and I just kinda made it up. Last night was especially good, since I made a sauce with the braising liquid and served it over julienned zucchini (I called it SPAGHETTI). This crockpot recipe is so quick and easy, it's gonna blow your mind how much flavor is packed in! It's perfect to throw together before work or school, and finish the sauce and SPAGHETTI in 10 minutes when you get home.




I busted open my mandoline from Costco last night at 9:30pm in order to try this recipe. 9:30pm on a Tuesday night is as good of a time as any to try your mandoline for the first time, right? PS - I LOVE it and I'm looking forward to all the beautiful, tasty creations I can assemble with VEGETABLES! Including a homemade sauce and zucchini lasagna with the 10 lb flat of tomatoes I purchased with my next CSA delivery. Who can resist Early Girls at $1.00/pound!? I'll be sure to post and let you know if it's a success...

So, onto the recipe. I promised not to ramble too much. I just now think everyone should have a mandoline.

Classic Pot Roast

2 lb chuck roast, or otherwise good crock-pot type of meat (this works well with pork, too)
1 can of diced tomatoes (low salt, no salt, italian style, whatever)
1 medium onion sliced 1/2 inch thick
1 T. italian seasoning
salt to taste (~1-2 tsp depending on preference, can always add more later)
2-4 T. butter
2 T. tomato paste
1/2-1 T. honey
1/2 T. coconut flour
Optional: 2-3 cups of julienned zucchini (spaghetti/linguini-sized), either done with a food processor, mandolin or knife <---careful!
extra butter
parmesan cheese

Place the meat in the crock-pot and sprinkle the salt on and around the roast. Next, dump the canned tomatoes on top. Then, layer the onions on and around the roast. Last, sprinkle with the italian seasoning. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6-8. What's great about the crockpot is you can throw in the meat entirely frozen and just let it do it's thing. I prefer to cook mine on low all day while I'm at school or work.

After the meat has cooked, remove it and transfer it to a plate for slicing and serving. Alternatively, you can place it back in the crockpot after you make your sauce. When making the sauce, error on the smaller side of the butter, and honey. You can always add more, but you can't take away. Second, I prefer to do a lot of things "to taste". You know what you like best. I'm just trying to give you a base which you can embellish. Mix in the butter, tomato paste, honey, and coconut flour until well incorporated. If your meat released a lot of juices, you may need a little more coconut flour. Go easy since coconut flour is super absorbent and you can go from sauce to paste in no time. You'll notice that my sauce was on the thinner side. I like it like that. Adjust the flour accordingly. If the sauce is too acidic, add a little more butter and honey to cut through that acidity.

To make the "spaghetti zucchini", either blanch or lightly sauté the zucchini for about 3-5 minutes. What's great about julienning the zucchini so finely is A. it cooks quickly and B. it holds up nicely and resembles cooked spaghetti quite well. I sautéed my zucchini with, you guessed it, butter!

To serve, plate the meat with a side of zucchini spaghetti. Add the sauce on top of both the zucchini and meat. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese; or in my case, Kerrygold dubliner cheese (which comes from grass-fed cows and is otherwise delicious).


Let me know in the comments your favorite pot-roast recipe!

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