This delicious recipe came to me at the perfect time, solving both problems I was actively thinking through. I was looking for a new cozy, fall recipe–one that was more unique than beef stew or chili. I also had a lot of flank steak and skirt steak to use up before our big beef restock in October. In my mind, both of those cuts are more for summertime. I usually grill them and serve them over salads or grilled garden veggies. At the same time, I was binge-watching both seasons of The Bear. The show is about an Italian-American family in Chicago. The main character is a highly awarded chef who comes home to try to save the family restaurant. Frequently they mention a family recipe called braciole and I had to figure out what it is! I did a little research and discovered that it is thin beef filets stuffed with cheese, rolled up, and braised in tomato sauce. Lo and behold, it checked all the boxes I was looking for!
Braciole
Equipment
- 7 Quart Dutch Oven
- Butcher's Twine or Toothpicks
- Meat Mallet
Ingredients
- 2 lbs flank, skirt, or round steak Any thin beef filet, approximately 1/4 thick. If thicker, you will need to filet thinner or flatten with a mallet.
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup grated romano cheese
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic
- 4 tbsp butter
- 1 cup wine, stock, or broth
- 1 jar marinara sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Combine cheeses, breadcrumbs, garlic, and Italian seasoning in a medium-sized bowl and mix. This is the filling.
- Salt and pepper the steaks to taste.
- Lay steaks flat and coat the top with the filling.
- Roll the steaks and secure the rolls closed with butcher's twine or toothpicks.
- Melt the butter over medium heat in the Dutch Oven. Once the butter is hot, sear each beef roll side starting with the seam. Turn every 2 minutes until every side is seared, approximately 8 minutes total.
- Remove beef rolls from the Dutch Oven and deglaze with wine, stock, or broth.
- Add the beef rolls back in and pour marinara sauce on top of the rolls.
- Cover with the lid and place in the oven for 1-1 1/2 hours. Approximately every 30 minutes, spoon the sauce on top of the beef, recover, and continue baking.
- Slice and serve with pasta, polenta, potatoes, or crusty bread. You'll want to soak up every drop of the sauce!
Dutch Ovens are my current favorite way to cook almost everything. I have several different brands and sizes, but my absolute favorite is the 7.5-quart Lodge Dutch Oven. It’s big enough for our family of 6 without being too big. I love that I can start a meal on the cooktop and then stick it right into the oven. Plus it’s the perfect shade of red for my red kitchen.
When I concocted this recipe for my family, I used one large flank steak and several smaller skirt steaks because that’s what we had available. Round steak would also work well, but it might be too thick as-is and it will likely need to be sliced into a thinner filet (approximately 1/4 inch) or pounded with a meat mallet. Be mindful that you might have to increase the cooking time if you’re using thicker steaks.
I had planned to use equal parts romano and parmesan cheese. Instead, I used mostly romano because the bag of parmesan I thought was full in the fridge, turned out to only have crumbs left. Normally I deglaze with beef stock, but rather than open a new stock container, I poured in a red wine blend that was leftover and needed to be used. After I rolled my meat I pinned it together with toothpicks that I had on hand. I think tying it with butcher’s twine would have been easier, but I don’t know for sure as I haven’t tried it. For the sauce, I used a 32-ounce jar of Classico marinara sauce. I buy those on sale at Costco and always have a stash in the pantry. You can use any brand you choose, or even make your own from scratch.
Finally, here’s the clip from Everybody Loves Raymond for a trip down memory lane and to hear the pronunciation of the word “braciole!”
