Ground Beef Ragout

Total Time: 9 hrs 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 9 hrs

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1 sweet red pepper, cut in 1-inch pieces
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup broth
• 1 (16 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced in 3/4-inch slices
• 2 medium onions, cut in thin wedges
• 3 medium carrots, cut in 1/2-inch slices
• 1 (16 ounce) package refrigerated cooked polenta
• 6 tablespoons pesto sauce or 6 tablespoons olive tapenade (to garnish)
• fresh basil sprig (optional)

Recipe

• 1 brown ground beef in a skillet,. do not break up the meat; you'll want small chunks of it in this ragout. transfer meat to a 3-1/2 to 4-quart crockpot. add the red pepper, garlic, broth, tomatoes with juice, salt and pepper.
• 2 cover and cook on lo heat for 7-9 hours.
• 3 turn crockpot to hi heat. add the zucchini, carrots and onion 30 minutes before the pot is done.
• 4 prepare the polenta according to package directions. serve meat over the top of the polenta with pesto garnish. add basil leaves for trim.