Braised Beef with Red Wine Sauce

4 oz pancetta, diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 2 1/2 - 3 pound beef sirloin tip or round roast

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium red sweet pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

3/4 cup dry red wine

1 (28 oz) can Italian style whole peeled tomatoes in puree,
undrained and cut up

1 tbsp tomato pate

2 tbsp snipped fresh basil or 1 tsp dried basil, crushed

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup whipping cream

In a 4-6 quart Dutch oven, cook pancetta over medium heat until crisp. Using a

slotted spoon, remove pancetta and set aside. Reserve any drippings in pan.

Add olive oil to pan. Add meat and brown on all sides in hot oil about 10 minutes.

Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Transfer meat to a plate;

reserve drippings in pan. Add carrots, onion, sweet pepper, celery and garlic to pan.

Cook and stir about 10 minutes or until light brown,. Add the wine, scraping the

bottom of the pan to remove browned bits. Simmer for 1 minute. Stir in undrained

tomatoes, tomato paste, basil and oregano. Return beef to pot and add the bay leaf.

Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer about 1 1.2 hours or until the beef is tender.

Remove beef from pan and let stand while preparing sauce. For sauce, simmer

tomato mixture, uncovered, until mixture measures about 4 1/2 cups

(about 12 minutes.) Stir in cream. Remove bay leaf. Serve beef with sauce.

Sprinkle with pancetta. Makes 6 servings.