Seas Italian Beef Surprise (surprised because it came out awesome)

I had a piece of chuck roast that I bought the other day. I had thought I would make a pot roast of some kind in my crockpot. I just didn't feel like cooking alot. I wandered online and all I saw were those crummy recipes that add onion soup mix and the like. I really didn't want that. I wanted alot more.

Then I remembered some Italian beef roast I had long ago and it was delicious. So I wandered online looking for something like that. This is what I ended up with. I will say I only used the pizza sauce and the au jus because I didn't have what I really wanted, in the house. I had preferred to use some canned tomatoes and beef broth. Honestly tho the extra flavors in the pizza sauce made this special. If I decide to do this without that sauce next time, Ill just use tomato paste and toss in some oregano. I told my bf, be prepared, this is gonna either be really good or really bad lol.

I did want to put this over buttered noodles but didn't have that in the house either. I thought polenta would be yummy but I got lazy. In the end the pasta I decided to make actually was the perfect thing. This makes an incredibly rich and luscious sauce. My bf all nite was raving about this. He really, really enjoyed it. And I think the sauce over that pasta was a great combo......the sour cream and cheese helped thicken the sauce on the plate and that lil added flavor from the pasta put it over the top. This is definitely a good experiment and Ill be making it again sometime.

Seas Italian Beef Surprise ( serves 3-4)
1 (2-3 lb. boneless chuck roast)
Olive oil
4 carrots, peeled and halved lengthwise, cut into 2in. pieces
1 lg. red Italian onion, peeled, halved and cut into chunks
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 can of Pizza sauce (I used Contadina)
1 pkg. of Au Jus gravy mix or 1 can of beef broth
1/2 bottle of a good red wine (I used a Coppola Rosso red)
4 lg. baby portabello mushrooms sliced, then lightly chopped
1 tsp. rosemary, crumbled
1 c. frozen peas
8 oz. of pasta of your choice (I used penne)
1 c. sour cream ( I used fat free)
Parmesan cheese, grated, to taste

I cooked this in a crock pot.

In a skillet drizzle a bit of olive oil and turn heat to high. When oil is hot put roast that has been sprinkled with S & P in. Brown on both sides till nice and caramelized. If heat is too high, lower a bit, you don't want it to burn but its necessary to start it going.

In the meantime do the carrots and add to crockpot. Then do mushrooms and add also. When meat is browned nicely put in crockpot on top of veggies.

Meanwhile toss the onion in and saute a bit in the leftover oil and beef juices. This will help use up the yummy browned bits and caramelize the onions a bit too. When almost done, add garlic and saute till soft. Do not burn garlic, it will make it bitter. Then add to the crock pot.

Pour red wine over all. Add pizza sauce, au jus and rosemary. Cover and make sure crockpot is turned up to high. Cook for about 6 hrs or till beef is tender and almost falling apart. When beef is at that point, add the frozen peas and cook till they are cooked thru. At this point I put the lid on crooked so the steam can escape and the juices can concentrate. I left it like this about 1 more hr.

As the peas were cooking, I cooked the pasta, then tossed with the sour cream and Parmesan cheese. Serve the beef and its luscious juices over all.