Braciole - Italian-American stuffed rolled meat roulades (Involtini) recipe(s)

Braciole pronounced 'Bradgeiole' are delicious rolled steak or beef roulades stuffed with sultanas, pine nuts, Pecorino, basil and garlic, which are browned and then simmered in a tomato sauce and served with potatoes and broccoli. 

A 'Primo' course is traditionally served with some of the Braciole cooking sauce with a pasta of your choice topped with grated Italian cheese, this course works so well as it introduces the sauce flavour to the taste buds that the main course satisfies.

Braciole can have stuffings as above but can include sliced hard boiled eggs and Parma ham, or alternatively thin slices of fried aubergine with Mozzarella cheese and ham. Instead of beef, chicken or veal can be used. So basically you can put whatever you like inside some flattened meat, tie it up, brown it a bit in some oil, and then cook it in a tomato sauce for a bit.

This recipe is supposed to be Southern Italian but doesn't appear in my Sicilian cookbooks or any of my Italian cookbooks, but does appear in Mafia movies apparently, so without a gun to my noggin, or even my nuts, I'll tell you everything.

Reading over what is written above I have told you everything, so I'll tell you again, make a mixture of whats written above. Flatten meat, tie the meat with string, and brown the meat in some oil, fry onions and garlic with herbs and add red wine and reduce. You know how to make some tomato sauce. Anyway simmer it for a few minutes then add your meat roulades and simmer for as long as you want. 

For the Primo boil a little pasta and add some sauce and serve as a first course, I added olives too, then serve the rest with veg and tatties. 

Capeesh?

I hope so.

Notes:

Steak has different names in the USA, which is where all the 'Braciole' - YouTube recipes are filmed, even Stanley Tucci gets in on the act, see below, so I used topside of beef which the butcher cut about 4 mm thick which I thumped a bit flatter, you don't need sirloin or fillet or even rump, but you could use them, I will try braising steak though and cook it in the slow cooker all day. I then simmered the 'topside' beef roulades for about 40 mins, but I think they could cook for a couple of hours and only get better.

Just put the filling in the lower area of the steak so it rolls well. Don't over do the garlic.

Pic with pasta the first course, I added a few olives and served it with grated Parmesan.

This is the sort of meal that could be adapted and made your own. Now I have discovered it, Braciole will be made regularly.

Anyway we all aspire to be as cool as Stanley Tucci...