Braciole is a recipe that is perfect for a special occasion that only requires 20 minutes of active preparation time. Flank Steak is topped with cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs, seared, and then roasted in tomato sauce. Let this recipe for Braciole with tomato sauce be your secret weapon for hosting a dinnerparty.
This scalable Braciole recipe requires very little active preparation time, and is a perfect dinner to serve for a special occasion.
Braciole is an Italian meat dish that consists of thin flank steak rolled up with cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs. The first step to prepare braciole with a tomato sauce is to pound the meat out until it is very thin.
Next you create a mixture of cheese, garlic, and breadcrumbs. I like to use a blend of Parmesan and provolone.
The cheese and breadcrumb mixture gets spread over the steak.
Then you roll up the steak and tie it up with butcher’s twine.
The meat is quickly browned before being cooked low and slow in a pool of tomato sauce.
The result is slices of tender beef with swirls of cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs. It’s easy and elegant, and sure to impress your dinner guests.
The active preparation time for this recipe is just 20 minutes, and you can easily increase the number of portions by purchasing a larger steak. I love recipes that can be scaled without any extra effort.
If you have a large dutch oven you could even cook two bracioles together.
I like to use my roasted tomato sauce in this recipe. It is my go-to tomato sauce recipe. It is made my pureeing roasted cherry tomatoes and has a really fresh taste.
Sometimes I serve Braciole with roasted potatoes and asparagus.
Most recently I served it with baked penne in tomato sauce and creamy spinach.
And for dessert… I made an angel food cake with a light whipped chocolate frosting – it one of my all-time favorite desserts!
This is one of my favorite meals to serve at a dinner party – the prep work can all be done in advance before guests arrive.
Before we get to the recipe – want some more recipes for a special dinner? Here are some options:
This is my Mom’s recipe for Braciole – it is made with a red wine sauce instead of being cooked in tomato sauce.
I love this Classic Chicken Marsala recipe and it tastes even better then it is made a day ahead of time.
How to make Braciole with Tomato Sauce:
Braciole with Tomato Sauce
Yield: 2-3 servings
Active Time: 20 minutes
Additional Time: 1 hour30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour50 minutes
Braciole is a recipe that is perfect for a special occasion that only requires 20 minutes of active preparation time. Flank Steak is topped with cheese, herbs, and breadcrumbs, seared, and then roasted in tomato sauce. Let this recipe be your secret weapon for hosting a dinner party.
Ingredients
1 lb - 1.25lb Flank Steak
Salt and Pepper
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/3 cup grated Provolone
1/3 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian Parsley
2 cloves pressed or finely chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Butter
1 cup White Wine
3 cups Tomato Sauce
*Butchers Twine
Instructions
First heat your oven to 300 degrees.
Then get started by pounding the flank steak to make it thinner. Pound it for about a minute getting it as thin as possible. Then dust both sides with salt and pepper.
Mix the Parmesan, Provolone, breadcrumbs, parsley, and garlic together in a bowl. Then spread them out evenly on the top of the flank steak.
Next roll up the steak, and tie it closed with 3-4 pieces of butcher's twine. Tie the twine tightly so that the filling won't fall out of the steak as it cooks.
Then melt the butter in a dutch oven over medium high heat, and brown the steak on all sides. This will take about 8 minutes total, turning the steak every 2 minutes.
Once the steak has been browned, add the white wine, and bring to a bubble. Then pour the tomato sauce over the steak, and cover it with a lid, and place it in the oven.
Roast the steak at 300 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, basting the steak every 30 minutes, by spooning the tomato sauce over it.
After 90 minutes, pull the dutch oven out of the oven, and let the braciole rest for 10 minutes before slicing it. Remove the butcher's twine as you slice. Serve immediately after slicing, spooning some of the tomato sauce on top.
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To make the braciole, you'll need flank steak that has been butterflied and pounded until it is 1/4-inch thick for the base of the braciole. First, layer the steak with prosciutto, then top it with the toasted panko (toasting the breadcrumbs first means they will absorb the flavor of the roll and sauce).
You can easily make braciole a day or two ahead of time, I've done that many times especially for parties. If I make them ahead of time for a party I also like to take my time removing the strings and cutting the rolls while they're cold.
Further, if you haven't pounded the meat thin enough, it can still be tough after cooking, so make sure to pound it to an even, thin slice. Lastly, the cooking time matters, as if you cook it too short it can be tough, so make sure to cook it slow and prolonged to get a more tender result.
The Ribeye is generally considered to be the most flavourful steak. These steaks are cut from the ribs and contain a lot of marbling throughout. The muscle from where the Ribeye is cut, isn't used often so the meat is very tender.
The most tender of all cuts of beef, tenderloin steaks are lean and known for their delicate, butter-like texture and thick cut. These mouthwatering steaks are so tender they can be “cut with a butter knife.” Tenderloin steaks are commonly known as filets or filet mignon.
Seasoning a steak overnight is all about enhancing flavor and, in some cases, tenderizing the meat. When you season a steak and let it sit in the refrigerator for several hours or even a full day, you're giving those seasonings time to work their magic.
There is only one real difference in the actual techniques of braciole versus involtini. "Involtini" translates to "little bundles," and as such, it's used to refer to smaller and thinner cuts of meat.
For the Braciole: In a medium bowl, add breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, parsley, pine nuts, olive oil, garlic, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and red pepper flakes and stir until well combined. Set aside. If using a top round roast, slice roast into six 1/2 -inch slices. If using pre-sliced beef, skip to Step 5.
You may need some sweetness and acidity to bring up the tough meat. Simmer in liquid. Just like for burnt meat, if your meat gets tough and dry then you can simmer it in a little bit of broth for a couple minutes. Don't allow it to overcook again but just allow the liquid to penetrate the meat.
While it has deep roots in Italian cuisine, the Braciole most familiar to American palates is largely an Italian-American invention, molded by the hands of immigrants adapting to a new land while longing for their native flavors. In Italy, "braciole" often refers to simple grilled slices of meat, usually pork.
Braciole (Brah-J “yoh- lah) in Italian, literally means slice of meat roasted over coals, from brace live coals. The Neapolitan-style Braciole recipe is a dish that ran the history of Southern-Italian cuisine!
Prosciutto is a fatty cut of meat that, when sliced thinly, has a sweet meaty flavor with a pleasant edge of saltiness, and a buttery texture that melts in the mouth.
Traditional Prosciutto is one of Italy's most famous cured meats and is made from ham, supporting the common colloquial title in English of “Parma ham”. It is dry-cured for at least 210 days, thinly sliced, and served as an antipasto or on sandwiches as a snack or for lunch.
Flank steak is a beef steak cut from the abdominal muscles of the cow. This cut is also called the London Broil due to its popularity in that city. It is a long, flat cut that runs from the rib end of the animal to the hip or rump.
Introduction: My name is Fr. Dewey Fisher, I am a powerful, open, faithful, combative, spotless, faithful, fair person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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