By Jodee Weiland
Aunt Rose, who taught me how to make eye of round roast Italian style, was my mother’s sister, and she lived in the house next to my parent’s home, the home I grew up in from the time I was two until I moved away to a place of my own.
She was always more than just an aunt. She was more like another mother figure in my life because she lived next door to us, and she was very close to my sisters and me. Aunt Rose had no children of her own, but she treated us like we were her children and was always there for us. So way back when I first started cooking, I was at my Aunt Rose’s house, and she was cooking a beef roast that smelled so delicious I had to ask how she did it.
When I asked her how she cooked her roast, she told me. Basically, Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style is the recipe she gave me that day without the measurements. What can I say? Italians just cook and put things in as they go. Who measures? At any rate, I took down her directions and have been cooking my beef roasts this way now for years, with a few small adaptations along the way,…also, another Italian trait, at least in my family. Over the years, I added the carrots and onions under my roast and the Worcestershire Sauce. I, also, learned to brown my roast before cooking it in the oven. These were my additions and have worked out well for me. Aunt Rose liked them enough to add them to her recipe after I told her what I had done. So here is Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style as it is today!
Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style
2 pounds lean eye of round roast boneless
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic clove chopped
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
5 large carrots peeled and cut in 1 inch pieces
2 yellow onions quartered
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Spray the baking dish you will use with olive oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. If your roast has excess fat, trim it off. Then season the roast lightly with black pepper and sea salt lightly. Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the roast lightly on all sides on your stove top. Once done, layer the bottom of your baking dish with the carrots and onions. Put the browned roast on top of these vegetables and then add the basil, parsley, chopped garlic, onion powder, and black pepper. Lastly, drizzle the Worcestershire sauce over the roast. Cover the baking dish and cook in the oven for about one hour. Uncover after one hour and cook for ten minutes longer. Remove from oven and slice the roast. Put the roast back in the baking dish with juices and cook for another few minutes or until cooked to your taste, whichever that may be, rare to well done.
Once done, Aunt Rose’s Eye of Round Roast Italian Style is delicious. Aromatic while cooking and full of flavor when done, serve with the carrots and onions under your roast. This is a meal all in one pot, but you can add a salad if you like or a loaf of bread. We like it with the carrots and onions and a glass of Merlot. If you try this meal, you will love it for sure. It is definitely a crowd pleaser, so enjoy!
Too bad I’m making chicken tonight! How can meat look beautiful? You made it so…
Thank you, Ann! This roast not only looks good, it tastes even better. We love it and due to the lean cut of meat, it’s a healthy beef dinner. I’m so glad you like it!
So funny Jodee, I had an aunt Rose too who was my grandmother’s sister. I guess she was my great aunt but we called her Aunt Rose. She was a great cook too. Maybe just being called Rose and being an aunt makes you a culinary star! This roast looks amazing and I love your modifications. Aunt Rose would have been proud!
Thanks, Chris! I think anyone with an Aunt Rose like my Aunt Rose has got to be lucky! Not only are we both lucky, but it seems we keep finding things we have in common. My aunt was very dear to me, and I miss her. I still have some old cooking utensils she gave me from her own kitchen drawer when I was just starting out. Those items are very special to me, and I still use them. Sometimes I grab one of her old utensils over the newer one I may have purchased somewhere along the way. I’m so glad to be able to share these stories with you. It’s been great getting to know you better! Thanks for stopping by!
This is very similar to the way I cook my roast beef, when I’m not doing a pot roast that is. One difference is when about half done, I add peeled chopped potatoes to the carrots and onions and I always serve a green vegetable.
I sometimes add potatoes as well, but sometimes I will bake them either whole or sliced for texture. We, also, like to add a green vegetable at times. Whichever way you have it, it’s always delicious, isn’t it?
Lovely post, I am your newest follower. I am new “getting back” into the blogging world that is. So much to learn. Enjoyed reading about your Aunt Rose, you did that Italian Roast proud.
Thank you! The blogging world changes constantly, but once you get into rhythm of keeping up, it actually gets easier. I have a lot of pins on my blogging know how and social media boards on Pinterest that might help. Welcome back, and thanks for stopping by!
This looks one heck of a perfect dinner!
Thanks! It tastes great. My family always enjoys it! Thanks for stopping by!
Jodee,
The roast looks absolutely amazing! It’s cooked exactly the way my family likes it, with just a touch of pink running through the center. It must have been so amazing to live next door to your Aunt. I never had the opportunity to live that close to any of my aunts, but I’m extremely close to my own nieces and nephews. They’re like my kids, and I would love to live next door to them!
Thank you! We always enjoy a good roast for dinner. Living next door to my aunt was great, and now I live about a mile from my own niece and her mother, my sister. I like to bring her boys, my great-nephews, loaves of Italian bread because they love it! Having family nearby is wonderful!