I was Italian in a past life. I’m not sure how else to explain my deep love for all Italian foods. Basil. Tomato. Parmesan cheese. Garlic. This recipe, Braciole, just deepens the love. Called “bra-che-o-lay” by Italians and “bra-zhul” by Sicilians, this is a classic Italian-Sicilian dish traditionally made around Christmas time. You make it with little strips of beef that you tenderize and then roll up with a filling made of chopped golden raisins, pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and parsley. You pan sear the rolls so they are browned on the outside. Then later, you cook the rolls for hours and hours in a wine-infused tomato sauce that reduces almost to a gravy, and the beef becomes so tender that it melts in your mouth. Yum.
Fillings are Key
Start making Braciole by preparing the filling. Combine flat-leaf parsley, pine nuts, golden raisins, Parmesan cheese, and garlic. I chop up the raisins and the pine nuts a bit to make the texture easier to manage. When the filling is done, set it aside because now you need to prepare the meat rolls.
Butterfly the Meat
Flank steak is a flattish-shaped cut and very sinewy. It needs to be tenderized and flattened further to make it easier to roll up. Start by butterflying it. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut horizontally down the middle, so that you have two thin slices.
Then, wrap the steak in plastic wrap. This is an important step…trust me. The first time I made Braciole, I didn’t wrap it. Big. Mistake. It was like I butchered the cow on my counter. Apparently, I’m a slow learner because I have another important tip: don’t use wax paper. The second time I made this dish and didn’t have plastic wrap on hand, I used wax paper. Unless you like the extra work of picking out flecks of wax paper that have been pounded into the meat, I suggest you stick to plastic wrap.
Next, tenderize the meat by hammering it on both sides with a meat mallet.
When that is done, cut it into strips.
Create the Rolls
Now, start filling the rolls. Season the strip with a little salt and pepper. Place the filling at the bottom of the strip, and gently roll the strip to the top.
Then, secure the beef roll. You can do this in one of two ways: using twine to wrap it or toothpicks. There are pros and cons to each method. The pro for twine–it looks nicer and enables the roll to be evenly pan seared. The con–it’s more time consuming to remove. This might be a better option if you were making one big roll up (braciola) instead of individual rolls (braciole) as shown in this recipe. I opted for toothpicks because I made individual bite-sized rolls, and they were easier to remove. The con…the rolls didn’t evenly brown when I pan seared them.
Pan Sear
Once all the rolls are done, you have entered the next phase of cooking—the pan searing. Bring your pot to medium high heat, and using a little bit of olive oil, start browning the rolls in batches of four to five at a time. Over the course of the process, you’ll see brown stuff start to build up on the bottom of your pan. This is “fond” and it contains all the flavor needed to make this recipe amazing. You’ll use every bit of it once the frying is done.
Set aside the rolls on a separate plate as you finish. (Notice how the toothpicks prevented even browning. If you don’t like this, use twine instead.)
Now, saute the chopped onions. Deglaze the bottom of the pot when the onions are translucent—about five minutes or so—with some red wine. “Deglazing” is the fancy way of saying “remove the fond gently with a wooden spoon.” This becomes part of the sauce, very much like the meat drippings are used in gravies. The combination of the fond and the wine make this tomato sauce taste almost like an Italian version of French beef bourguignon.
Speaking of tomato sauce, now’s the time to add the canned tomatoes into the pot. Break them apart either gently with your hands so the juice doesn’t squirt everywhere, or with a masher. Add the tomatoes to the pot along with the rolls. Add any remaining filling in too, along with some chile flakes, and a bay leaf.
At this point, the Braciole sauce will be dark brown in color, and look like black coffee. Over time, it lightens up a bit. I like my sauce to be a little more tomato-y, so I add about three ounces (half a can) of tomato paste and a little bit of white sugar to cut the acidity. After an hour or so, the flavors start to blend together.
Let it Braise
Braciole cooks for the better part of the day, over low heat so that the sauce reduces on its own and the meat becomes as tender as you’d like. Most folks can’t wait that long to enjoy this dish. If you want to shorten that time, here is a good alternative: about two hours after cooking, move the rolls to a separate plate where you can remove the toothpicks. During that time, heat up the sauce so that it reduces a bit. Then, return the rolls (minus the toothpicks or twine) back to the sauce and cook for about a half hour more. Serve when you’re ready.
Serving Suggestions
You can serve Braciole over pasta with a little bit of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and some fresh basil or on its own with a bit of garlic bread, and downright fantastic when served over spaghetti squash.
This recipe makes about five quarts once the sauce reduces a bit. Each roll is pretty hearty, so estimate two or three rolls per serving.
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Braciole
Equipment
- 6-quart Dutch oven
- meat mallet
- twine or toothpicks
Ingredients
Braciole
- 3 pounds flank steak tenderized and cut into 12 6'x4' slices
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 5 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley plus a little more for garnish on top
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
Red Sauce
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 56 ounces canned whole, peeled tomatoes in juice, crushed by hand
- 1 1/2 cup red wine
- 1 teaspoon red chile flakes
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
Make the Braciole
- Make the filling. Mix the golden raisins, pine nuts, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and garlic into a bowl; set aside.
- Prepare the meat. Place one slice of beef on a work surface, and butterfly the steak. Do this by slicing horizontally, lengthwise through the middle to make two flat sheets (don't cut across). Cover with plastic wrap, and tenderize the meat with the meat mallet. Pound out the steak on both sides until it is thin, about 1/16 inch. When steak is thin enough, cut in strips, roughly in the size of 4" by 6".
- Make the rolls. Take a slice of meat and season with salt and pepper. Then, place about 1 tbsp filling on the bottom half and then roll it up. Secure with toothpicks and repeat until all rolls have been created. Set aside on a plate.
- Heat oil in a 6-qt Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in batches of three to six (depending on size), add beef rolls and cook, turning as needed and until rolls are browned on all sides. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Make the Red Sauce
- When finished browning, add onion to pot and cook, stirring until soft (about five minutes).
- Add wine to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Stir and lightly scrape bottom of pot, until almost evaporated, about five minutes.
- Stir in chile flakes, tomatoes, and bay leaf, and then return beef rolls to pot.
- Bring to boil, and then reduce head to medium-low.
- Cook, covered partially, and gently stirring occasionally until meat is cooked through and tender, about two hours.
- Remove meat rolls from sauce, remove toothpicks, and transfer to a serving platter. Cover to keep warm.
- Continue cooking sauce until reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes. When the sauce is thickened to your liking, return the beef rolls bake to the sauce, heat up.
- Sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve.
Notes
Adapted from Saveur.
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