Braciole alla Calabrese (Calabrian Stuffed Meat Rolls)
Braciole are typical of Calabria. Calabrian cuisine is generous and sincere, just like those who prepare it. Let me share my family recipe with you!
Execution: Easy
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 210 minutes
Servings: 6
Ingredients:
For the braciole:
4 (600g) leg steaks
Beef slices, 6, about 125 g each (750 g)
Stale bread crumbs*, 170 g
Medium eggs, 7
Grated pecorino cheese, 80 g
Sliced pecorino cheese, 120 g
Sliced Sopressa salami (or other salami of your choice), 100 g
Parsley, 15 g
Garlic, 1 clove
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
For the sauce:
Tomato passata, 800 g
Red onion, 100 g
Extra virgin olive oil, 60 g
White wine, 100 g
Salt, to taste
How to Prepare:
Hard-boil 6 eggs, cool and peel them
Remove any excess fat from the beef slices (if they are thick, pound them to a thickness of 3 mm).
Mix the crumbled breadcrumbs, chopped garlic and parsley, one egg, pecorino cheese, salt, and pepper.
Lay out the beef slices, place 60 g of the mixture in the center of each. On top, lay slices of salami (15 g) and slices of pecorino cheese (20 g). Finally, place a hard-boiled egg in the centre.
Fold 1 cm inwards on the longer sides and roll them up, starting from one of the shorter sides, and tie the braciola with cooking string.
In a frying pan, heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the chopped onion until softened. Brown the braciole with the remaining oil. Add the softened onion, wine, and passata. Season with salt and pepper, cover, and cook for 2 hours. Adjust seasoning, turn off the heat, and serve!
Notes
Use breadcrumbs from homemade bread: this is the closest you'll get to the freshest flavours mum used.
Sopressa salami is a flat and slightly spicy salami, typical of Calabria. My advice? You can also decide to chop both the salami and pecorino cheese instead of using them in slices. This is an equally tasty alternative!
To avoid overcooking the eggs, give them an initial boil so that the yolk remains very soft: this way, with the cooking inside the meat, they won't take on that greenish color.
There will be plenty of yummy sauce from the Braciole so make sure you turn this into a full Sunday lunch – separately boil some penne or rigatoni and serve with the sauce from the Braciole.
Storage
Stuffed braciole can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, as long as they are well sealed in an airtight container. Due to the presence of eggs, I wouldn't freeze them.