Italian Pot Roast - 7/3/11

Ingredients:
2 - 2 1/2 pound boneless chuck roast (about 1 3/4 inch thick)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
6 large cloves fresh garlic, chopped
1-24 oz. jar good quality marinara sauce with wine and herbs (Classico, Bertolli, or Barilla brands work well)
1/2 cup of red wine (e.g. merlot, pinot noir, cabernet or burgundy) plus more as needed
A few sprigs of fresh thyme

Heat a Dutch oven over medium high heat and add about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Season both sides of the meat with garlic salt, onion powder, coarse black pepper, and a Cajun white pepper seasoning blend like "Slap Ya Mama".  Brown the meat on both sides and remove to a dish while you cook the vegetables.

Add the onion, carrots, and garlic to the remaining oil in the Dutch oven, and season with kosher salt, coarse black pepper, and a pinch of brown sugar.  Saute the vegetables until the onions are translucent and the edges show some browning.  Deglaze the pan with the half cup of wine, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits into the sauce.  Put the meat back into the pan, and then pour the jar of sauce over it.  Use some more wine to swish out any remaining sauce in the jar and add to the pan.  Carefully stir the sauce and wine together around the meat.  Add the thyme springs, then cover the Dutch oven and place it into a preheated 325 degree oven for an hour.  Remove the pan, carefully turn the meat over, cover and cook another hour or until a fork can easily pierce the meat, but it still has a little resistance.  Let the meat cool to room temperature, then slice it against the grain into fairly thick slices, return the slices carefully to the pan with the sauce, cover and return to the oven for another half hour or until the meat is very tender.  Serve right away or refrigerate in a nonreactive casserole dish.  If you need to thin the sauce for reheating, you can use wine, water, or a combination of both.