Tuscan Braised Beef with Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

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Beef chuck roast in a rich wine broth with mushrooms, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, and tomatoes, braised low and slow until falling-apart tender and served over garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes.

This is one of those comforting dishes that will warm you from the inside out even on the coldest nights.

A plate with Tuscan Braised Beef and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.

Braised Chuck Roast with Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes

This is exactly the kind of thing I want to eat for dinner from about October until May. Never quite willing to let go of the flavors of fresh summer produce, I also crave long-roasted dishes that feel comforting and cozy.

On those nights, braising meat in the oven is a beautiful thing. Braising generally involves a long, slow cooking time in just the right amount of liquid to tenderize the meat and create a thick, rich sauce. Plus, braising turns cheaper cuts of meat into falling-apart-intensly-flavorful forkfuls of pure comfort.

The characteristics of a cut of meat that makes it perfect for braising are the same characteristics that make it less suited to high-heat, quick cooking methods like searing.

Braised dishes, which requires low heat and slow cooking, transform tough cuts of meat into tender, falling-apart meat and sauces that have had time to reduce until they are thick and flavorful.

If you're going to braise beef, chuck roast is where it's at. It's inexpensive, marbled with fat (which prevents it from drying out), and richly flavorful. When you see a recipe for braised short ribs or brisket but don't want to spend money on short ribs or brisket - chuck roast is your best friend. It's not only less pricy, but sometimes tastes even better.

Mushrooms, red peppers, garlic and onions, ready to add to a pot of Tuscan Braised Beef.

Braising Beef Creates a Rich, Flavorful Sauce While The Roast Cooks

Start by cutting larger portions of chuck roast into eight ½-lb pieces, sprinkling the meat with salt and pepper and then dredging them in flour.

Cutting the meat into smaller portions will help ensure that they are tender in about 3 hours. The flour not only gives the meat a nice crust, it will help to thicken the broth as the meat cooks.

Sear the meat in hot oil until you have a nice golden crust on each steak. This creates flavor compounds that will deepen the flavor of the broth while the meat cooks.

Coating pieces of chuck roast in flour and then searing in hot oil is the first step to making Tuscan braised beef.

Set the meat aside for a moment while you cook onions, mushrooms, and red peppers in butter with some garlic, crushed red pepper and Italian seasoning.

Cooking the vegetables with Italian seasoning for Tuscan Braised Beef.

Add some dry white wine and let it reduce until almost all the liquid has evaporated. This ensures that the alcohol in the wine will evaporate, leaving only the flavor of the wine behind, which contributes acidity and sweetness to the broth.

Then, add some chicken stock, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce before returning the steaks to the pan, nestling them down into the sauce along with a few sprigs of fresh rosemary sprigs and a couple of bay leaves.

Bring it to a boil on the stovetop, then let the whole thing roast in the oven for a few hours until the meat is very, very tender.

Cooking chuck roast in a vegetable and wine flavored broth to make Tuscan Braised Beef.

Serve Braised Beef Over Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

Normally, I like to make mashed potatoes with cream cheese. However, a while back I got to cook for a yoga retreat in Tuscany. One night I made a gigantic pot of mashed potatoes for a dinner party with roasted garlic and mascarpone cheese (because that's what we had on hand) and, that's how I make mashed potatoes now. Because ... YUM.

If you can't find mascarpone, cream cheese is also delicious as long as you use half the amount. Cream cheese has a much stronger flavor than mascarpone, so use 4 oz plus a bit of butter instead of 8 oz of mascarpone.

How to Make Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

Making these delicious potatoes is simple.

Begin by peeling a few pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes and cut them into 2 or 3 inch chunks. You can also use russet potatoes if you like, but the rich, buttery flavor of Yukon Golds makes these mashed potatoes extra creamy.
Add the potatoes to a pan of cold water that's been seasoned with a whole tablespoon of salt. The saltiness of the water will help season the potatoes from the inside out, creating more flavorful potatoes than if you add all the salt at the end.
While the potatoes are cooking, roughly chop some garlic and add it to a small saucepan along with ¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil.
Bring the oil to a simmer, then let it cook over low heat until it's golden brown and super tender. Add some whole milk, bring it back to a boil, then cover and keep warm.
When the potatoes are cooked through, drain them and add them to a bowl of a stand mixer with some mascarpone cheese. The heat from the potatoes will start to melt the cheese.
Add the warm garlic and milk and use the paddle attachment to mash the potatoes on low speed. (You can also use a potato masher if you prefer.)
Taste and add more salt and pepper if you like then do your best to not eat the entire bowl before the beef is done roasting.

Slowly cooking garlic in olive oil then adding some milk to make garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes.

Making garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes.

Pro Tip! When making mashed potatoes, it's important to start the potatoes in cold water before bringing the water to a boil to ensure that the potatoes cook evenly.

When you add potatoes to already boiling water, the outside of the potatoes cook faster than the inside. This creates a situation in which the outside of the chunks of the potatoes are overcooked by the time the inside is soft and tender.

A serving of garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes.

How To Serve Tuscan Braised Beef with Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

When the beef is finished cooking, gently stir in a handful of chopped parsley and add more salt and pepper if you like.

Spoon some mashed potatoes on each plate and top with a chunk of beef and plenty of sauce. Then, just because you can, sprinkle on some grated parmesan cheese.

A plate of garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes topped with Tuscan Braised Beef.

A plate of garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes topped with Tuscan Braised Beef and fresh parsley.

A plate of Tuscan Braised Beef over Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes.

What to Serve with Tuscan Braised Beef

I love serving Tuscan Braised Beef and Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes with Roasted Cabbage. Not only is roasted cabbage just about one of the simplest vegetable dishes you can make, it's so good I've eaten it for dinner all on its own.

The secret is to roast it at high heat so that the center of each slice of cabbage is tender and the outside is brown and crispy.

Since the cabbage will need to roast at a different temperature than the meat, you can't really cook both dishes at the same time unless you have a double oven.

I'd suggest cooking the cabbage first, letting it roast while you prepare the Tuscan Beef for the oven. Then simply pop it back in the oven to reheat during the last 5 or 10 minutes of the beef cooking.

Taking a bite of Tuscan Braised Beef with Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes.

What To Do with Leftover Tuscan Braised Beef

If you happen to have any Tuscan Braised Beef left over, this Tuscan Beef Pot Pie is a delicious way to use it up! In fact, you might want to make extra just so you'll have enough leftovers to make it.

To make extra Tuscan Braised Beef, cook 6 pounds of chuck roast, increase the wine to 1 ¼ cup, the broth to 2 ½ cups, and the Worcestershire sauce to 2 tablespoons.

More homey, comforting recipes:

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📖 Recipe

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Tuscan Braised Beef with Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes

Tender braised beef in a rich wine sauce with mushrooms, onions, garlic, red bell pepper, and tomatoes served over creamy garlic mascarpone mashed potatoes.

*If you have leftovers, this Tuscan Beef Pot Pie is a delicious way to use them up!

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 4 hours 6 seconds

Total Time 5 hours 6 seconds

Ingredients

For the Tuscan Braised Beef:

4 lbs beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup grape seed oil (or canola oil, or any other oil with a high smoke point)
1 large yellow onion, peeled, cut in half, each half sliced into ¼-inch slices
3 tablespoon butter
8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms, cut into ¼-inch slices (or portabella mushrooms)
1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and chopped into ¼-inch pieces
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoon Italian Seasoning blend
1 cup dry white wine
1 ½ cups chicken stock
28 oz can diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 or 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 bay leaves
¾ cup fresh parsley, chopped
OPTIONAL: grated parmesan cheese, for serving

For the Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes:

3 lbs Yukon gold potatoes (yellow potatoes)
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
8 large cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
8 oz mascarpone cheese (OR – 4 oz cream cheese + 2 tablespoon butter)
½ cup whole milk
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Cut chuck roast into eight ½-lb pieces. Sprinkle the steaks generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
Add the flour to a pie plate or shallow dish and dredge each steak in the flour to coat it on all sides with flour. Shake off excess flour and set on a plate.
In a large heavy bottom, oven proof saucepan or dutch oven, heat the ¼ cup grape seed oil over medium high heat until shimmering – just before it begins to smoke. Add 2 or 3 of the steaks to the hot oil, allowing them to brown for about 4 minutes on both sides. Remove the steaks to a clean plate and repeat with remaining steaks. Adjust heat as necessary so that the oil remains quite hot, but the flour on the steaks is not burning. You want to get a nice golden crust on each steak – if you notice black spots as you turn the steaks over, reduce the heat.
Pour the oil out of the pan, add the butter, and set over medium heat. Add the onion slices to the pan and sprinkle with about ½ teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until soft and just beginning to brown. Add the mushrooms and red peppers to the pan and cook, stirring frequently, until the mushrooms are a light golden brown, about 5-6 minutes.
Add the minced garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, and another ½ teaspoon salt and ground black pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute longer. Pour in the wine, turn the heat up to high, and cook, stirring frequently, until nearly all the liquid has evaporated.
Add the chicken stock, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire sauce to the pan and stir to combine. Return the steaks to the pan, nestling them down into the sauce. Add the rosemary sprigs and bay leaves, pushing them down into the sauce, in between the steaks.
Bring the liquid to a boil, cover, and place in the oven. Let roast, covered, for 2 hours. After 2 hours, remove the lid and let roast for another 1 & ½ – 2 hours, until the meat is very, very tender.

Make the Garlic Mascarpone Mashed Potatoes:

Fill a large saucepan about ¾ full with cold water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Peel the potatoes, cut them into 2 or 3-inch chunks, and add them to the cold water.
Set the pan over medium high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and let simmer until very tender, about 20 minutes.
While the potatoes cook, add the olive oil and chopped garlic to a small saucepan and set it over medium heat. As soon as the oil begins to simmer, reduce the heat too low. Let the garlic cook until golden, about 13-15 minutes. Stir in the milk, turn the heat back up to medium high and bring to a simmer. When the milk begins to simmer, remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep warm.
Add the mascarpone cheese to the bowl of a standing mixer – Or - a large mixing bowl.
When the potatoes are fork tender, drain them in a colander set inside the sink. Dump the hot potatoes onto the mascarpone cheese and let sit for a minute or two to soften the cheese.
If using a standing mixer, fit it with the paddle attachment, and pour in the hot milk and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper. Mix on low speed until mostly smooth, with only a few small chunks of potato. Taste and add as much more salt and pepper as you like.
If using a potato masher or whisk to mash the potatoes, add the milk and ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper while mashing the potatoes. Mash to desired consistency; taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.

To Finish and Serve:

When the beef is finished cooking, gently stir in the chopped parsley. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
Spoon some mashed potatoes on each plate and top with a chunk of beef and plenty of sauce. Serve with grated parmesan cheese if desired.