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Chicago-Style Italian Roast Beef

From

February/March 2008

Chicago-Style Italian Roast Beef

In Chicago, spicy Italian roast beef recipes usually start with an inexpensive rump roast, which is marinated overnight—most often in a blend of Italian spices, garlic, vinegar, and oil (or even bottled Italian dressing)—then oven-braised in beef broth. The roast is sliced thin and served with the spicy jus. We wanted to perfect our Chicago-Style Italian Roast Beef recipe so that we could get a memorable dinner—and leftovers—out of it. Our first change was swapping the rump roast—which tasters found too tough—for meaty and tender top sirloin roast. Elevating the roast on a rack kept it out of the jus and prevented the meat from softening too much. Instead of marinating the roast, which can cause the meat to become mushy, we rubbed the roast with a blend of dried oregano, basil, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes. To get the browned crust we wanted, we browned the beef in a skillet before rubbing it and added a little oil to the spices so they’d adhere to the seared exterior of the meat.

Serves 6 to 8

See related tip for more information about buying a top sirloin roast. If your roast is larger than 4 pounds, you may need to increase the cooking time slightly in step 4. Save leftover meat and jus for sandwiches (see related recipe).

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