Jen and I are hardly carnivores — we will cook beef/poultry/fish perhaps once a week — but we’ve got a new favorite meat dish to make at home. Braciole. It’s an Italian rolled, filled flank steak cooked in wine and tomato sauce. It’s amazingly good. So good, in fact, here is the recipe:

Braciole
1.5# flank steak
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Juice of one lemon
Red wine
1 batch of tomato sauce (see below)

Tenderize and flatten the flank steak to thin it out. Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix one tablespoon of the olive oil and the remaining ingredients together in a bowl and spread on the flank steak.

Roll the flank with the grain (like a jelly roll) and tie tightly with string.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a pan, and brown all sides of the roll.

Once the roll is browned, fill the pan with the tomato sauce and as much wine as you please (1/2 to 1 cup). Simmer gently, covered, for up to one hour. To serve, cut the roll across the grain and cover with the sauce.

Tomato Sauce
1 cup of chopped yellow onion
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Red wine
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauce pot, then add the onion, basil, and salt. Saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or so.

Add the wine. Again, the amount is up to you. 1/2 to 1 cup works best. Turn down the heat and deglaze the pan.

Add the tomatoes, stir well, and allow to simmer, uncovered, for 30-60 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. The longer the sauce cooks, the thicker it will become.

Enjoy!

Posted on 2 January 2004