I’m calling this slow cooker stew “beef Marsala” because there’s red wine in it, but I’m really not bothering to use Marsala wine. Feel free to use whatever red you have or even leave it out if you’re not a fan of cooking with wine, or it’s too much of a pain to go buy some. I’m all about making life easier, not more difficult. I had leftover mashed red potatoes, and came up with this to use them up. Tony made the potatoes and forgot to take pictures, so he’ll have to do a “Take 2” soon.
These pictures show the before and after reducing the wine with the onion mixture.
As usual with the slow cooker, you do not need to get up early and get this together before you leave for work. I put the whole thing together and stuck it in the refrigerator overnight, so all I had to remember to do was pull it out and turn it on before I left.
Slow Cooker Beef Marsala
1 T avocado oil
1-2 lbs boneless chuck roast cut in chunks
1 can tomato paste
1 C chopped sweet onion
4 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 C red wine
1 1/2 C organic low sodium beef stock
1 t ground black pepper
8 oz pkg mushrooms
4 large carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 T flour
Heat oil in large pan. Brown beef on all sides; do in two batches depending on the size of your pan. Place browned beef in a slow cooker. Empty can of tomato paste on meat and stir.
Put onion and garlic in pan and brown for a few minutes. Add 1/2 cup wine; cook a few minutes, stirring, until half of liquid evaporates. Add stock and pepper; bring to a simmer. Carefully pour stock mixture into slow cooker. Top beef mixture with mushrooms and carrots.
Cover and cook on for at least 7 hours. Put slow cooker pot on stove. Remove some of the liquid to a cup and whisk in flour. Whisk slurry back into pot. Bring to a boil; cook 1 minute until thickened.
