recipe: italian pot roast (or something like that)

Ellen called me this morning to ask for the recipe of an Italian pot roast she remembered I made two years ago. I had made the recipe again just last week and was thinking of putting it up here, so with that endorsement (memorable after 2 years? I'd be sold), I'm sharing. I didn't grow up eating pot roast, so I'm not sure if this actually constitutes pot roast (or even what pot roast really is) - this recipe more like braised beef that gets shredded into a delicious tomato-based sauce that you serve over pasta. Is that pot roast?

Italian Pot Roast

1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 potato, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 lbs chuck roast (labeled for pot roast)
6 oz tomato paste
1 packet of onion soup mix (like Lipton)
1 t. dried thyme
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 16 to 28 oz can of tomatoes, whole, which you can crush by hand, or diced (28 oz makes for a saucier result)
2 bay leaves

Put the onion through potato in the bottom of your crock pot. Mix together the tomato paste through pepper and rub over the roast. Add the roast covered in paste to the crock pot, and add any leftover paste to the pot. Pour the tomatoes in and add the bay leaves. Turn to high and cook until the beef is cooked through (several hours). Shred the beef into the sauce with two forks. Serve over pasta (I like bowties for this recipe!) and grate some parmesan cheese on top.