Ropa Vieja

Ingredients

4 to 4.5 pound chuck roast
6 to 8 cloves garlic
¼ cup cilantro
½ yellow pepper
½ red pepper
½ medium yellow sweet onion
1 15 ounce can Red Gold Tomato Sauce
1 6 ounce can Hunts Tomato Paste with oregano and basil
1 tomato paste can of water
1 4 ounce can Hatch Green Chilies diced
2 tablespoons Morton’s Course Sea Salt
4 teaspoons Lawry’s Season Pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
2 teaspoons Lawry’s Garlic Salt with parsley
1 tablespoon Heinz White Vinegar
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Trader Joe’s Premium Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Crockpot or ceramic Dutch oven

Instructions

Heat a large pan (big enough to sear roast) with olive oil until very hot. Rub meat with sea salt and season pepper using 1 tablespoon of salt and 2 teaspoons of season pepper on each side. Take 3 to 4 cloves of garlic and insert fully into the roast (cut a small slit in the meat to insert the garlic). Please roast into pan and sear for 5 minutes on each side.

While searing meat, slice the yellow and red peppers making thin half inch slices, slice the medium onion in half and make thin slices of onion and dice garlic. Put these vegetables into the bottom of the crockpot or Dutch oven. Next add tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, green chilies, oregano, garlic salt, cumin and vinegar. Then mix together until well blended. Begin heating the crockpot to high or heat the Dutch oven on the stove. Once the meat is seared on both sides, place the meat into the pot or Dutch oven and turn over to make sure both sides are covered in sauce. As the sauce heats, mince the cilantro removing most of the stems and making sure that the ones you keep are well minced. Put ¼ cup of the minced cilantro into the pot or Dutch oven and roll the roast again to make sure cilantro is on the top and bottom.

If using a Crockpot, be sure to get the sauce up to the point it is bubbling and then turn to low. The roast should cook 7 to 8 hours on low. If using a Dutch oven, then once it is heated and the sauce is bubbling; cover and put the entire pot in the oven at 275 degrees leaving to cook for 6 hours. Cook until the roast is very tender and falling apart.

When you remove the roast and it is tender and falling apart, use two forks to shred the roast and mix with the sauce. This dish is traditionally served with white rice and Cuban black beans.

Serves 6 to 8.