Italian Beef Stew

ITALIAN BEEF STEW (Crockpot)

I found the original recipe in EVERYDAY FOOD December 2004 and prepared it while living in West Laurens..  The original recipe did not call for tortellini or carrots, though.   I found the recipe again today and tried it again!  Peggy raved about it.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic, basil and oregano (28 ounces)
• 1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
• some italian seasoning and some TRADER JOES 21 Seasoning Salute, salt and pepper   
• 2-3 lbs stew meat from chuck roast
• couple small white potatoes, scrubbed
• fresh carrots scrubbed and cut into large pieces (halved)
• one can mushrooms
• chopped celery and some chopped green pepper
• minced garlic
• ketchup 
• one package of  cheese Tortellini from Aldi's (8.8 ounces)
• one heaping tbsp of brown sugar

I browned the meat well (in the oil) and placed in crockpot with the onion, tomatoes, seasonings, carrots and celery and green pepper and garlic.   Added a large dollop of Ketchup, stirred and put crockpot on LOW, cooked for several hours.  I added the brown sugar about halfway through.  I added the tortellini for the last hour, and the mushrooms for the last fifteen minutes (along with a second dollop 0f ketchup)

Shepards Pie

I browned a little less than a pound of ground beef along with some chopped onion and green pepper.  Drained well, and sprinkled some flour over the meat, stirred in some beef broth and cooked it down to make a gravy.  Added a dollop of ketchup, some sweet pepper relish and some crushed garlic...it still seemed somewhat watery so I stirred in some bread crumbs to thicken it and cooked a couple of more minutes.

Put the beef in the bottom of a round casserole dish, then some canned carrots and then some leftover JULIENNE POTATOS from a  couple of days ago.

oven at 375, covered for fifteen minutes
and then uncovered for fifteen minutes.