Italian Filled Braciole
Braciole is a popular Italian dish. Using flank steak works the best as it becomes very tender after slow cooking all day. You can roll the meat with your favorite filling. I had frozen kale handy along with the other ingredients. I picked up the flank steak at Joseph's Classic Market.
Enjoy this Italian specialty!
PS If you don't have kitchen twine at home just ask your butcher! They will be more than happy to provide some for you.
Ingredients
- 1.5 to 2 pounds of flank steak, pounded out thin
- Sea salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 2 cups frozen chopped kale, thawed
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 8 ounce package mushrooms, chopped
- 2-3 teaspoons Italian seasonings
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups homemade tomato sauce (recipe below)
Directions
Season both sides of the flank steak after you pound it out thin.
Place kale in a bowl and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
In a heated medium sauté pan add a tablespoon of olive oil and add in peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes then add in garlic while cooking for an additional 30 seconds then remove and place in a bowl. Using the same pan over medium heat add in the mushrooms, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt/pepper. Cook for about 5-7 minutes then put into a bowl.
Set up your assembly line on your counter. Place the flank steak on a clean work surface. (plastic board works great) Start by evenly adding the kale to one side of the meat. Top with red peppers then mushrooms. Sprinkle with as much parmesan cheese that makes you happy!
Starting from the side of the ingredients roll tightly until you reach the end and the seal is at the bottom of the board. Take the kitchen twine and tie the entire length to secure the filled ingredients.
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Heat a large braising pan over medium/high heat and pour in about 3 tablespoons of oil. Brown the meat on all sides (about 2 minutes each side).
Lower the heat to medium and pour in your prepared sauce.
Put in the oven for 3 hours. To serve, take the braciola out of the pan using tongs then remove the kitchen twine. Slice then ladle sauce and serve!
Tomato Sauce Ingredients:
Make a big pot of sauce and freeze in serving sizes to use later!- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves Garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon Sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 (14-ounce) cans sauce or diced tomatoes
- 1/2 can of water
- 1 small can of tomato paste
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Tomato Sauce Directions:
- Heat a large sauce pan to medium heat and add olive oil. When heated add garlic for 1 minute. Then add sauce, water, salt pepper and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to simmer and add in paste. Take a little bit of hot tap water and using a spoon get all of the edges from the paste and pour into the pan. Add in spices, cover for at least 30 minutes. Longer is better. Taste for additional salt and if you like a little more heat – add a few shakes of red pepper flakes! Stir often.
NOTE: Take the 2 cans of sauce. Add 1/2 water to one can and pour into the other can then pour into the pan. This will not only clean out your cans but use all of the sauce. If it seems to thick, add more water.