Braciola

 

 

 

 

Braciola

Braciola is an Italian version of a beef roulade or “rolled beef dish.  Just about every nationality has a recipe of this kind, a true peasant dish taking tougher cuts of meats and slowly braising them until they are tender.  There are probably a great many version of braciola.

My version may not be traditional but it is good.  It started with an episode of “Everybody Loves Raymond” in which his wife makes a braciola dish that Frank loves and that makes Marie very jealous.  The secret to the recipe was she used currants in the filling.

That started me on a quest to produce a version of my own using currants, which have become rather hard to find where we live and so I have not made it recently.  I was talking to someone the other day and we were discussing the opening of a new small chain grocery store near my house and I  said I hoped they carried currants and told about my different recipes in which I used them including braciola.

I checked out the new store on their “grand opening”, sadly they don”t carry them either but it got the braciola bug going so I resorted to Amazon for the currants and made a batch of braciola.

Most of the amounts in this recipe are approximate, the amounts are more to the eye and taste.  You will also need a good non reactive large pot with a tight fitting lid.

There are also many different opinions as to which cut of meat to use, I prefer the bottom round but by all means if you want to use something else ( top round or flank steak) go right ahead.

 Ingredients for Braciola:

1. 3½# piece of bottom round sliced into ¼” thick slices.
2. 4-5 cloves of garlic
3. ¼ cup pignoli (pine nuts) lightly toasted
4. ½ cup flat leafed) Italian parsley
5. 3-4 tsp salt and pepper
6. ¼-½ loaf of italian bread (day old best) thinly sliced,crust removed
7. 3-4 Tbs Olive oil
8. 1 cup dried currants
9. 2-3 thin slices of Pecorino Romano for each roulade
10. 1-2 qts “Sunday gravy” or your favorite tomato sauce
11. Chopped parsley for garnish
12. 2-3 additional Tbs olive oil for browning meat

Directions for Braciola:

The easiest way to prepare the beef is to have a good rapport with your butcher.  Get him to cut a 3½-4 pound piece of bottom round into ¼ inch thick slices on the slicer. Depending on the weight you should get 14 or more slices of beef.

In a food processor place the garlic, pine nuts,parsley, and 1 tsp each salt and pepper.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Scoop out into a mixing bowl and reserve.

Place the bread slices into the processor next and pulse until you have coarse crumbs.  By eye scoop the crumbs into the mixing bowl with the garlic mixture until you have about two cups of filling.

Place any remaining crumbs in an air tight zip lock bag and freeze for another day.

Add the currants to the mixture and combine thoroughly, then add olive oil until the mixture is slightly moist and holds together loosely.

Depending on how large your work area is, layout the beef slices and  with a meat tenderizer or mallet pound the slices to about 1/8 inch in thickness, then lightly salt and pepper one side and turn over and lightly salt and pepper the other sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The slices of bottom round will be slightly triangular in shape.  Place 2-3 Tbs of the filling  at the wide end of the triangle then with a peeler shave 2 or 3 pieces of the Pecorino Romano on top of the filling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Begin to roll up the beef folding the sides in to encapsulate the filling and continue to roll to the thin end and secure with one toothpick to hold the roll closed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All this can be done in advance of cooking.  the entire cooking time will be about 3 hours 15 minutes.

When you are ready to cook set your oven on 300º-325º and using either a large sauté pan or the non reactive pot you are going to cook in, place a small amount of olive oil and in batches brown all sides of the braciola and once browned remove to a warm plate.

When all are browned, place the sauce into the pot and bring up to medium simmer. place all the braciola into the pot so that they are covered with sauce, place the lid on the pot and set in the oven for 2-3 hours until the meat is fork tender.

Serve with pasta or noodles or even potatoes your choice as to what your family will like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are few items to help make this recipe:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currants and garlic are not too S.A.P.P. friendly but the sauce and the noodles were palatable, so I only got half the meal so only half the paws more or less

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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