Slow Cooker Pesto Beef with Grape Tomatoes

I came upon this recipe while scoping out cook books on Amazon.com.  They offer previews of many books and this recipe is in a sample from The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cook Book by Kitty Broihier and Kimberly Mayone.  Everything about it intrigued me, so I decided to give it a shot and had no idea what to expect, in part because I'd never put any of the ingredients in a slow cooker before.  Happily, it turned out very well!  It's extremely ugly (the pesto of course is no longer green after cooking for hours), and does not specifically taste like pesto, but the meat is fall apart tender and it has a lot of flavor.  The fresh grape tomatoes are great as well and infinitely better than canned tomatoes would be.  This is different than most other slow cooker recipes and I can see myself making it often!  I served this with melon and fresh, steamed green beans, but you could probably serve the meat and tomatoes over penne pasta or rice with a little of the cooking liquid from the meat (strained first!) if you feel so inclined, since the cooking liquid is pretty flavorful.  Even better, just toss pasta with more pesto!

The original recipe actually calls for a whopping pound of mozzarella (the fresh, water packed kind), but as much as I like cheese, that amount sounded excessive and I ended up just using about half a cup of grated mozzarella since the store was out of the fresh kind.  My husband liked it best with the cheese, but I kind of preferred it without and think it would be very good with parmesan.  My portion of the leftovers will definitely get some parmesan! 

Quick Note:  The type of pesto you use here is important.  I vastly prefer pesto that's sold in the refrigerated or frozen section of the store.  It's bright green and tastes fresh and wonderful.  The jarred, dark green kind found with the dried pasta tends to be extremely strong tasting and has enough garlic to kill an elephant.  Whenever we visit my family in Seattle, I always try to bring home at least a couple big tubs of frozen pesto from DeLaurenti Specialty Food & Wine at the Pike Place Market, but this time I used Buitoni brand pesto and it was quite tasty.

Slow Cooker Pesto Beef with Grape Tomatoes

1/2 C prepared, refrigerated pesto (I used Buitoni)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 lbs beef round steak, cut into 6 pieces and trimmed of fat

4 C grape tomatoes (two 10 oz containers)

salt to taste

optional: grated mozzarella or parmesan, or sliced water packed mozzarella

In a slow cooker, mix together pesto and pepper, then spread evenly in the bottom of the crock.  Press both sides of each piece of steak into the pesto, then arrange so they fit in the bottom (you may have to stack them).  Sprinkle the beef with a bit of salt, then top with the tomatoes and give them a sprinkle of salt as well.  Cover and cook on low until meat is fork tender, about 4 to 6 hours depending on your slow cooker.  Use a slotted spoon to carefully scoop the tomatoes out of the crock (you don't want to break them up), then spoon off most of the liquid around the meat. 

 

If you're adding grated mozzarella: Sprinkle with mozzarella, put the lid back on, and cook until the cheese has melted, about 5 minutes.  To serve, divide meat among plates and top with the tomatoes.

If you're adding grated parmesan or fresh mozzarella: Divide meat among plates, top with the cheese, then top with the tomatoes.

Yield: 6 servings