Braciole
Who doesn’t enjoy braciole? No one. Braciole is thin slices of beef stuffed and rolled up in a little sleeping bag with herbs and cheese. It gets secured with a toothpick. I try to use only one per piece so no one chokes down a spike of danger. Just try to be consistent. They then get pan fried and simmer in a sauce with tomatoes and red wine. At least that’s how I do it. Once they are cooked, they get served along side some rigatoni pasta. This is how Sunday dinner is done folks.
The work here is worth it. It really doesn’t take long and the end result is fantastic. You don’t need the fanciest cut of meat here. The idea is that it will cook and soften in the sauce. Most of the time when I make this I find that 1-2 hours of cooking time is plenty.
Here’s a little note guys. I created this recipe for one dinner. A word of advice (just do it), double the meat, triple the sauce. People always eat more meat than pasta (unless you are cooking this for a crowd- then cook up another package of pasta). Plus, you will be so happy you added a couple of extra cans of tomatoes and made some extra sauce. The meat will still flavor the sauce, even with the extra tomatoes. I have felling you might need a bigger pot. Then, freeze the leftover sauce. Your random Wednesday “What’s for dinner” panic will thank me.
Oh yeah, don’t forget to tell people to remove the toothpick from the meat. It would turn into a very awkward meal…
Braciole
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- large bunch parsley
- 3 garlic cloves
- salt & peppert
- 1 pounds thin cut top round steak or bottom round
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated plus more for topping pasta
- 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 1 cup beets red or yellow
- 1 28 oz cans tomato puree or crushed tomatoes
- 1 pound rigatoni
Instructions
Pesto Paste
- In a food processor, chop the garlic, parsley and salt, Slowly drizzle in 1/4 cup of olive oil until a soupy paste forms. Set aside.
Meat
- Place a slice of meat on a cutting board and season with salt & pepper.
- In the center of each slice add some of the pesto. Top with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of Italian bread crumbs.
- Roll each slice of meat and secure it with a toothpick. Season the outside of the meat. Set aside in a large dish. Repeat with all the meat slices.
Sauce
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil on a large wide sauce pot. Add the meat rolls and brown on all sides. If they all do not fit, work in batches. We are looking to brown the meat on all sides.
- Once the meat has browned, return all the meat to the pan and add 1 cup red wine. Gently scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Let the wine reduce by half. Add tomato puree. Refill the can a third of the way and and swirl it around to catch any remaining tomatoes. Add to the pan. Bring the sauce to a boil. Reduce the heat to a medium simmer for 1-2 hours. Check on it occasionally to make sure the meat doesn't stick to the bottom. Add salt to taste as the sauce cooks.
- As the sauce finished cooking, cook you rigatoni al dente and drain. Before serving, remove the meat to a platter.
- Serve the sauce over rigatoni! Add some Parmesan cheese. Freeze and leftovers!
