Braciole
Braciole with Farfalle
It’s always a dilemma when a holiday like Valentine’s Day comes along. The desire to make a special meal is strong, but on the other hand, we make so many “special” meals routinely that it’s really hard to come up with something truly special.
We discussed it a bit, and actually came up with two possibilites - Braciole or Tenderloin stuffed with goat cheese. Both sounded good, so we decided to make two special meals this weekend. The Braciole was made on Saturday, with the tenderloin following the next day.
We served the braciole with Farfalle tossed with the tomato sauce that the meat had been roasted in. This made for a richly roasted sauce which was flavored by the meat and the bits of stuffing that had fallen out of the meat as it roasted.
Ingredients:
1 (1 1/2-pound) flank steak
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup dried Italian-style bread crumbs
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup grated blend of Romano and Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons olive oil
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped spinach
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
3 1/4 cups Tomato Sauce
Lay the flank steak flat on the work surface. Pound to make it thinner and sized consistently. Sprinkle with garlic and onion powders, along with freshly grated pepper, to taste.
Mix breadcrumbs, garlic, cheese, and 2 tablespoons of olive oil together. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the steak to cover the top evenly. Add pepper to taste, then place chopped spinach evenly over the mixture.
Starting at 1 short end, roll up the steak as for a jelly roll to enclose the filling completely. Using butcher’s twine, tie the steak roll to secure. Sprinkle the braciole with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the braciole and cook until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes.
Add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. Stir in the marinara sauce. Cover partially with foil and bake until the meat is almost tender, turning the braciole and basting with the sauce every 30 minutes. After 1 hour, uncover and continue baking until the meat is tender, about 30 minutes longer. The total cooking time should be about 1 1/2 hours.
Assure the puppy that the food will get done eventually, but that she may as well relax, because she’s not getting any when it does get done.
Remove the braciole from the sauce. Using a large sharp knife, cut the braciole crosswise and diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Spoon the sauce over and serve.
Your butcher twine Fu is truly spectacular. I’ve watched and practiced. My results can be compared that of a 3 legged half blind badger on acid attempting the same.
Stuffing meat with cheese, nothing finer.
Biggles