Northern Italian Beef Stew

Ingredients

• 1 quart beef stock 
• 4 large carrots peeled cut into large rounds
• 2 cups celery 
• 1 pound crimini mushrooms sliced
• 1 tablespoon basil dried
• 1 teaspoon marjoram dried
• 0.5 teaspoon sage dried
• 1 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
• 2 cups cooking wine dry red
• 2 tablespoons garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1.5 pounds potatoes red cut into 1-inch chunks (such as Bliss)
• 2 large onions diced sweet
• 2 cups tomato sauce 
• 4 large tomatoes chopped
• 2 pounds top round lean trimmed cut into 1-inch cubes

Equipment

• frying pan
• paper towels
• wooden spoon

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook beef in batches in hot oil until browned completely, about 5 minutes per batch.
2. Remove browned beef cubes to a plate lined with paper towels, keeping skillet over heat and retaining the beef drippings.
3. Cook and stir onion, celery, and carrots in the retained beef drippings until just softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir mushrooms and garlic into the onion mixture.
4. Pour red wine into the pan; bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Continue cooking the mixture until the wine evaporates, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir tomatoes into the mixture.
5. Return beef to skillet with potatoes, basil, thyme, marjoram, and sage.
6. Pour beef stock and tomato sauce over the mixture. Bring the liquid to a simmer.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the beef is very tender and the sauce is thick, 4 to 6 hours.