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Braciola

Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time6 hrs
Course: Main Course
Servings: 8 servings
Author: Christina

Equipment

  • Meat mallet
  • Kitchen twine**

Ingredients

  • 2 lbs of beef top round thinly sliced**
  • 1 cup of Pecorino
  • 1 clove of garlic finely minced or through a garlic press
  • ¾ cup Italian style breadcrumbs
  • ¼ lb of Prosciutto
  • 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • Handful of fresh parsley diced
  • 2 32 oz. jars of Tomato Sauce

Instructions

  • Mix the Pecorino, garlic, breadcrumbs, egg, olive oil, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl, it should resemble wet sand. Keep to the side. Place each piece of meat between two pieces of siren wrap. Using a meat mallet, pound each piece of meat thin, about 1/8-1/4” thick. Once they’re all pounded, you may have to cut them in half - you’ll want each piece about 4-6” long.
  • Lay your ingredients in an assembly line: meat, prosciutto, filling, pieces of kitchen twine. Lay a piece of prosciutto on the beef, then take 1-2 tablespoons of filling, depending how big the piece is, and roll up, making sure to keep all the filling inside. Tie each with two strings of twine, and set aside.
  • At this point, the braciole can be put in the fridge to be cooked the next day if needed.
  • Using a heavy bottom pot, coat the bottom with olive oil and turn on to medium heat. In batches, sear the braciola so it gets browned on all sides, placing it on a plate when it’s done. You’ll want to make your sauce and braise the meat in the same pot, to get all that meat essence. But if there are some burnt bits, transfer the left over oil into a small bowl. Using a few tablespoons of water and a wooden spoon, loosen the burnt pieces, and discard the water.
  • Once the pot is wiped and ready to go, add the reserved oil and more fresh if needed. Cook the tomato sauce as you normally would. (I like to add 1/4 cup of red wine after I sauté my garlic and tomato paste, and before I add the sauce.) Once the sauce comes to a boil, reduce to low and add all of the meat back in. The longer it cooks, the better the sauce and the more tender the meat will be. I recommend at least an additional four hours, but six is best. Right before serving, remove the meat and cut the twine off or remove the toothpicks (make sure you get them all!). Buon Appetito!

Notes

**You can have your butcher do this for you if you can't find smaller pieces of the top round.
**If you don't have kitchen twine, use toothpicks (just be careful taking them out!)
**Use two pieces of siren wrap to help pound out the meat.