ITALIAN POT ROAST

There is a restaurant my husband and I like to eat at and they have this Italian Pot Roast. It was pretty easy to figure out how they make this dish and so I'm sharing it with you! It's a pretty heavy meal, so I've found that biscotti and coffee is a sufficient dessert for this meal. My biscotti recipe is from an old friend of mine who got it from an elderly Italian lady. . . so we assume it's authentic. Biscotti is so easy to make and it keeps so well, I frequently bake both the regular recipe and the chocolate one.

The menu:

Italian Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes

Sauteed Zucchini

Tossed Green Salad

French Rolls or Garlic French Bread

Biscotti

The recipes:

ITALIAN POT ROAST

Place a brisket, flank roast or pot roast (well trimmed) in slow cooker. Pour one jar of any brand and any flavor spaghetti sauce over meat. Arrange russet potatoes that are washed and pierced (but not peeled) on top of sauce and also carrots that are washed (but not peeled). Cover and cook on low heat for 8 to 10 hours.

BISCOTTI
½ Cup Margarine, Softened
1 ½ Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 T Anise Seeds (crushed with either a mortar and pestle or in a coffee bean/spice grinder)
3 Cups Flour
1 ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoon Salt
¾ Cup Coarsely Chopped Almonds
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Beat margarine and sugar until creamy. Stir in eggs one at a time. Stir in anise seed. Mix dry ingredients together and then stir into dough. Stir in almonds. Separate into 4 balls. Lightly grease two cookie sheets. Roll each ball into logs and place two logs on each cookie sheet. Pat down logs to about 2 inches in width, about ½ inch thick and almost the length of the cookie sheet. (Lightly oiling hands helps keep batter from sticking – spraying Pam on hands works great)
Bake each sheet for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and place each rectangle on a cutting board. Slice diagonally into one inch segments. Place slices back on cookie sheet, cut side up, and bake another 10 minutes.

CHOCOLATE BISCOTTI
½ Cup Margarine, Softened
1 ½ Cups Sugar
3 Eggs
1 teaspoon Vanilla
2 ½ Cups Flour
1/3 Cup Cocoa
1 ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/3 Cups Coarsely Chopped Almonds
1 Cup Chocolate Chips
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix margarine, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips. Shape as per instructions for regular biscotti. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (until springs back when lightly pressed). Reduce oven to 325 degrees. Cut as per instructions for regular biscotti, place cookies “bottoms up” (instead of cut side up) on cookie sheet and bake for 5 to 10 minutes more.