The dish: Braciole or Bruccilone (in Sicilian language)
Recipe: Braciole is an Italian dish made out of a thin beefsteak stuffed with other variety of red meat and cheese. Known as Involtini in Italy, it is among the most exotic traditional delicacies of the Italian cuisine. You can also find some ready to eat packaged braciole in the market but it can never satisfy your taste buds like the one that could be prepared using the traditional methods in your own kitchen.
Complexity level: Medium
Time taken: About 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak
- Sopressata (or salamis)
- Pepperoni slices
- Some dried basils
- Prosciutto slices
- Provolone cheese
- Italian Bread crumbs – 1/2 cups
- 2 cloves of freshly chopped garlic.
- freshly cut Italian Parsley leaves
- 3 1/2 cups of Ragu old world style red sauce (or any other of your favorite sauce).
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper (freshly ground)
- Butter and olive oil (prefer extra virgin)
Process:
- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a saucepan. Add the chopped garlic and breadcrumbs to stir-fry until golden brown. Add the parsley leaves and some dried basils. Add salt to taste and stir well.
- Put the opened steak on the work area and pour over the meat, a part of the seasoning you just prepared. Cover with a layer of sopressatas (or salamis). Cover this layer by placing round cut slices of provolone cheese to make another layer (You can also choose to grate the cheese and then form a layer). Finally place the pepperoni to form the final layer.
- Now roll up the steak carefully (the fillings tend to move outwards) by tucking the meat inside while you roll it away from you. Now use a butcher’s twine (which is easily available at any butcher store) to tie the roll so that it could stay intact.
- Now, warm up a pan and pour 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a little butter. Bring the oil and butter mixture to a higher temperature, and put in the braciole. Cook the braciole on all sides so that the outer portions fries up and becomes crispy while being tender inside. Pour in the 3 1/2 cups of Ragu Old world style Red sauce (or any of your favorite sauce) and let it cook for 5 to 7 minutes by stirring the sauce and turning the braciole.
- Preheat the oven to 250 degree Celsius in the convention mode.
- Take off the pan from the heat and sprinkle salt and pepper over the braciole as per your taste.
- Next, partly wrap the saucy braciole in an aluminum foil and place inside the preheated oven.
- After about 15 minutes of cooking in the convention mode, take out the braciole from the oven and unwrap the foil. Baste the meat on all sides and put it back in the oven; this time, without the foil wrap (just keep it on top of the foil so that the juices drop off on the foil).
- After about 15 more minutes, baste again and cook for another 15 minutes so that the meat stuffing inside the steak becomes tender and is well cooked.
- Take out the braciole and cut off the butcher’s twine using a scissor. Keep the hot fresh braciole on the serving plate and pour the sauces and juices left in the foil over the braciole. Cut out circular slices for serving the hot and juicy braciole.
Tips:
- Do not cut out the budget on cheese and meat if you plan to cook a great braciole. Skipping out on meat ingredients will make your braciole dry and less juicy.
- For stuffier braciole, you can also use a handful of grated Parmesan along with the circular slices of Provolone cheese.
- You can try out some mashed potatoes, garlic bread sticks, and broccoli salad with this exotic Italian delicacy.
- You can use any variety of sauce instead of the Ragu Old world style Red sauce. You can even cook up your own style of a sauce.
