Name: Slow-Cooker Ropa Vieja
Total time: 6 h
Cuisine: Spanish & PortugueseEurope
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons vegetable oil; 2 onions , halved and sliced thin; 2 red bell peppers , stemmed, seeded, and sliced into 1/2-inch-wide strips; 1/4 cup tomato paste; 4 garlic cloves , minced; 2 teaspoons ground cumin; 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano; Salt and pepper; 1/2 cup dry white wine; 2 tablespoons soy sauce; 2 bay leaves; 1 (2-pound) flank steak , trimmed and cut crosswise against grain into 4 equal pieces; 3/4 cup pitted green olives , sliced; 1 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

Why This Recipe Works

For ropa vieja that’s easy to prepare but retains all the flavor of more time-consuming traditional recipes, we turned to the slow cooker. To avoid the common slow cooker pitfall of soupiness, we nixed the beef broth in favor of two other umami flavor boosters: soy sauce and tomato paste. We transitioned to the stovetop to make a sofrito in just 10 minutes, cooking down a mixture of onions and red bell peppers to drive off excess moisture. Added to the slow cooker, it provided the classic subtle sweetness to the finished stew.

Before You Begin

The contents of the slow cooker will look dry at the start, but the ingredients will release moisture after a couple of hours of cooking. Our favorite tomato paste is from Goya. Serve this dish with steamed white rice.

Instructions

Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and bell peppers and cook, covered, until softened and spotty brown, 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Push vegetables to sides of skillet. Add tomato paste, garlic, cumin, oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to center and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir vegetables into tomato paste mixture. Add wine and cook until nearly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture, soy sauce, and bay leaves to slow cooker. Season steak with salt and pepper and nestle into vegetable mixture. Cover and cook until meat is very tender, 6 to 7 hours on low or 5 to 6 hours on high.

Transfer steak to cutting board. Discard bay leaves. Using 2 forks, shred steak into bite-size pieces, then return it to slow cooker. Stir in olives and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.