I got a new kitchen toy for Christmas that needed to be broken in. I also had a beef tri-tip sitting in the refrigerator needing to be cooked. I’m thinking there could be a connection here.
(All links open a new page, so you won’t lose your spot when you look around! Get information on gardening and cultural traditions, recipes, stories, and more!)
The new toy is a large, heavy duty Dutch oven (thank you, Mommy!!). It’s big and heavy and beautiful. I knew it would be perfect for making the ideas that were floating around in my head about what to do with that tri-tip actually come to fruition. I was wanting to cook the tri-tip using similar ingredients to that of stifado, a traditional Greek stew, but without actually making stew. It’s not that I don’t like stifado, I just didn’t feel like cutting the meat up into a bunch of cubes. Lazy? Maybe. I’m the one making dinner, I get to decide my level of effort. So, HA!
So off to the pantry to grab a couple of quick ingredients, a few chops of some onion and garlic (while wearing my handy-dandy eye goggles because I’m smart like that), some gurgles of olive oil and sprinkles of spices, and badda-boom-badda-bing, dinner is ready. Or at least pretty darned close to it. You know, it does take time to cook in the oven.
Kalamata Olive & Tomato Roast Tri-Tip Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Beef tri-tip, about 3 lbs., or other similar sized beef roast, near room temperature, any connective tissue layer pulled off (this will be on the fatty side of the tri-tip)
- 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 3 1/2 cups fresh or canned diced tomatoes (2-15 ounce cans)
- 1 1/2 lbs. onions (about 2 large), quartered and sliced)
- 6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped, about 3-4 Tbsp.
- 1 cup whole Kalamata olives (pitted is optional, just make sure anyone eating them is aware if pits are still present!)
- 1/4 cup olive brine from the Kalamata olives (should be a vinegar base)
- 1/2 cup red wine, go for cheap burgundy
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. salt (you may want to adjust this depending on how salty your olives and/or canned tomatoes are)
- 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper, or to taste
- cooked rice for serving
Directions
Preheat oven to 500° F. Put olive oil in the bottom of a large Dutch oven pot, or deep roasting pan. Add all the other remaining ingredients other than the tri-tip and rice, and stir to thoroughly combine.
Place the tri-tip into the pot and rub it in to the other ingredients. Push the tomato mixture to the sides and submerge the roast half-way into the pot with the fat side up, and spoon some of the juices over the top. Place the pot, uncovered, into the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 350° F and continue to roast for another 50 minutes. This will allow for the end cuts to be near well-done and medium rare towards the middle.
Remove the roast from the pot and allow to rest, lightly tented with a sheet of foil, for at least 10-15 minutes before carving. Slice across the narrow width of the roast, not the longer length, for the best cuts. Any juice that comes out while you are cutting can be poured back into the pot and stirred into the tomato mixture. Pour some of the hot tomato mixture over the meat and a side of rice, and then get seconds. Maybe thirds. Fourths?
Mostly Greek 
One thought on “Kalamata Olive & Tomato Roast Tri-Tip”