Braciole Recipe: Flank Steak Made The Italian Way! A Godfather's Dish!

Flank Steak: Braciole Recipe

 

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The Braciola! A classic Italian/Sicilian dish! The dish of the Godfather! I love Braciola! If you are making more than one Braciola flank steak then it is called Braciole in the plural. Where I come from in New York, we just call it Braciole no matter how many we are making. Flank steak recipes come from all over the world, the roulade from France, and the rolladen from Germany for instance. In the long run the Braciole recipe of Italy is my favorite flank steak recipe.

The simple Italian Braciole recipe is made by pan searing thin beef slices or flank steak in some olive oil in a skillet or saute pan and then serving it with a simple salad or boiled or roasted potatoes. This is the very basic Italian rustic Braciole recipe. In the American Italian culture in the U.S.A. Braciole is still the name given to this flank steak recipe. This Braciole recipe is also made with chicken, pork, beef and it is even prepared with swordfish. These meats and fish are then rolled up with breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs and spices and then seared in a cast iron skillet. The Braciole recipe the classic flank steak recipe of Italy is also made in Sicily and is called Bruciuluni, Involtini or Rollatini. The name Rollatini is a regional name in parts of the United States but it not a true Italian word. Rollatini is most often made just using flank steak and does not get involved in using chicken or pork to make it.

The Braciole recipe is generally cooked with other meats or sausages in a sauce or ragu. In certain parts of the east coast we call the Braciole recipe a "Sunday Gravy". The Braciole recipe can be made outside of tomato sauce and coated in flour and breadcrumbs and pan seared and then roasted in the oven eggplant and other vegetables. There is no clear cut died in the wool way to make a Braciole recipe. A Braciole recipe can be eaten as either a main course with pasta which is the way I like to do it or it can be served as a side dish. My Mom says it's great for breakfast and yes if you are thinking about it a good Braciole recipe makes a killer sandwich for lunch!

In Italy Involtini is the name given to the Braciole recipe that we make here in the states. Involtini are thin slices of beef most of the time although chicken or pork can be used and they are stuffed full of cheese and egg, sausage, mushrooms and hot red pepper flakes for the heat which is the way the Sicilians like it. Other ingredients like pignoli or pine nuts and spinach or arugula are used as well. Involtini is the name given to multiple Involtinos and they are kept together with toothpicks and cooked in and served in the desired sauce of the day whether that sauce is a red or white sauce. The Involtini or Braciole recipe gives fantastic flavor to the sauce and then that sauce is used to toss the nights pasta!

As a kid I ate my mom's Braciole recipe for years. In my house my mom made her Braciole recipe using flank steak and stuffed it with any number of things and it was always delicious!  I felt that I would like to make my own Braciole recipe for my readers and viewers of my blog. Enjoy the video!



Ingredients For Sauce Step One For This Recipe:

I used 2 cartons of Pomi Brand Roma Tomatoes 1 carton strained and 1 carton chopped plus one 14.5oz stewed/sliced italian Roma tomatoes.

8 Cloves of garlic minced.

2 Tbsp of my homemade onion confit. You can use 1/2 to 1 whole onion finely chopped.

1 small piece of bacon or pork shoulder or pork based sausage to contrast the flavor of the beef and slow down the sauce sticking to the sides of the sauce pot.

2 Tbsp. dried Greek oregano bulbs or more to taste.

2 Tbsp. dried basil or more to taste.

1 Tsp. red pepper flakes for flavor and not heat.

2 Tbsp. Extra virgin olive oil.

1 Tsp. Salt.

2 Tbsp. Sugar or honey to cut the acid from the tomatoes. I used honey. (see video)

Method For Making The Sauce:

1. Pour all of your tomatoes into your sauce pot and then bring to a boil. Once at a boil bring to a simmer.

2. Add all of the other ingredients one at a time and stir them into the sauce well before adding the next ingredient.

3. Allow this sauce to simmer for at least 30 minutes. At end of 30 minutes stir the sauce and allow to keep simmering and while it continues to simmer go make your Braciole.

NOTE: You will need to have some artichoke hearts for searing for this dish. I use prepared hearts in a jar with water but you can use the one's in oil if you wish and frozen will work just as well.

Ingredients For Braciole:

2 1/2 Lbs minimum piece of flank steak. (flank steak is fairly tender but I use a meat mallet and gently use the flat side of the mallet on the steak first to flatten it out a bit more and then I use the textured side of the mallet gently all over the steak to break up any connective tissue and allow the meat to get really tender from the simmering.)

Olive oil to coat the meat.

Enough fresh or dried basil to cover the flank.

Enough fresh or dried oregano to cover the flank.

A sprinkle of granulated garlic just enough to cover the meat.

A pinch of red pepper flakes. Just enough for flavor and not high amounts of heat.

Any kind of Italian cheese to cover the meat. Generally about a cup or 2.

2-3 Scrambled eggs scrambled loosely. They will tighten up in the simmering.

Thinly sliced ham of any kind. Enough to cover the flank steak.

Enough white flour to coat the rolled up flank steak for searing in the skillet.

4 or 5 toothpicks to hold the flank steak together while you tie up the Braciole.

1 Cup of red wine to deglaze the skillet used for searing the Braciole.

2 or more Tbsp. of Onion Confit. (Recipe for Onion Confit @ bottom of blog post)

NOTE: A Braciole can be stuffed with many different items. You don't have to use the ingredients I used. You can use sausage, prosciutto, chicken, lamb, veal, eggplant and even seafood! There are so many ways to make this dish it is really incredible!

Method For Making The Braciole:

1. Lay the flank steak out on a synthetic cutting board.

2. Pour some olive oil on the flank steak and rub it into the surface of the meat. This will help with the tenderness.

3. 2 to Tbsp Onion Confit.

4. Now use enough fresh or dried basil to cover the surface of the Braciole.

5. Now use enough oregano to cover the surface of the flank steak thinly, don't bury the meat in it.

6. A pinch of salt and pepper to taste.

7. A sprinkle of granulated garlic to cover the flank steak. You can use fresh garlic if you want depending on how much fresh garlic you put in your tomato sauce because you don't want to overpower you sauce with the taste of garlic.

8. A pinch of red pepper flakes. Just a pinch as we only want the flavor and not overpower the flank steak with the heat of the pepper.

9. Now cover the surface of the Braciole recipe with the Italian cheese of your choice.

10. Add your thinly sliced ham or meat of your choice to the surface of the flank steak. (This is my fave part of the Braciole recipe!)

11. Add your scrambled eggs to the flank steak horizontally about one inch from bottom of the flank steak so it will roll easier.

12. Now it is time to roll the Braciole recipe up. Grab the bottom one inch of flank steak and fold it over the scrambled eggs as if you were rolling sushi. Roll up the meat tightly all the way to the end.

13. Once the meat is rolled up use your toothpicks to hold the final flap of flank steak down against the roll.

14. Now that the roll is held in place with the pick get your string and tie up the Braciole recipe. Tie it firm but don't strangle the meat or end up cutting it with the string.

NOTE: Now that the Braciole is rolled up coat it in white flour and then sear the Braciole in a skillet with olive oil. Once all sides of the Braciole have been seared in the skillet and you have all those little brown bits of flavor in the pan remove the Braciole and gently put it in the sauce pot to simmer for a minimum of one hour. If you want the Braciole to really get tender simmer for two or more hours and if necessary add little amounts of beef stock to the sauce in case it is reducing to much. After about sixty minutes deglaze your skillet with the red wine and pour that into your sauce for that little extra flavor boost! It will make your sauce DELICIOUS!

About fifteen minutes before the Braciole is ready to be served cook your pasta. I used Linguine. Also sear your artichoke hearts in olive oil and salt and pepper about five minutes before serving the dish. Then remove Braciole from sauce and slice on a board. Plate some pasta and pour sauce over the pasta and then add one or two slices of the Braciole to the sauce.( the slices should be at least one inch thick minimum)Then add your artichoke hearts and serve. Enjoy!

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