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!
