Italian Pot Roast

Italian Pot Roast serves 8 to 10

1/4 c flour 1 tsp salt 1 tsp pepper 4 lbs boneless beef chuck trimmed of excess fat 1/4 c olive oil 6 cloves garlic, minced 1 c dry red wine 1 28 oz can or 2 14.5  oz cans of diced tomatoes  1 Tbl dried oregano 2 tsp sugar 2 bay leaves  1/4 c fresh basil slivered

Put flour salt and pepper in a bag.  (I use veggie bags from grocery store)  Place roast in bag a shake until roast is coated.  Save leftover flour mixture for later.  Heat oil in pan.  Add roast and brown on all sides, about 12 to 15 minutes total.  Place roast in crock pot. 
Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds then add leftover flour mixture sauté for 1 minute.  Add red wine stir.   Make sure to scrape up browned bits on the bottom of pan for extra flavor.  Pour mixture over roast.     Pour tomatoes over roast and mixture.  Sprinkle oregano, sugar and bay leaves evenly over tomatoes.  Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.    Remove roast from crockpot carefully because roast will fall apart.  Add basil to sauce in crockpot, stir.  Slice roast and spoon sauce over roast before serving.  I usually have a bowl of sauce out for guests to add more to theirs and place over pasta.  
This is a great meal to serve for company because it makes a lot of food and you can do most of it ahead of time.  

*I serve this dish with orzo pasta and stir fried green beans.  Those recipes are also available on web site.