Looking for a tried and true Braciole recipe?

[Emily_R]

Hi everyone --

I grew up eating braciole that my dad bought from Ottomanelli's butcher shop in NYC, and then braised in tomato sauce... I just got an intense craving for some and since I no longer live in the city, want to try making it myself. Looking online, I found one source suggesting ottomanelli's just uses garlic and herbs as their filling, while almost all the other recipes I've seen use breadcrumbs and cheese and sometimes an egg... Does anyone have a tried and true recipe they could share?

Many thanks in advance,

Emily

[heidih]

There is some discussion about the cut of meat as well as well as some recipe outlines in this topic.

[Emily_R]

Thanks Heidi -- I did a search but for some reason didn't find that thread! Though it still doesn't give me a sense of whether the breadcrumb / egg mix is the way to go... Somehow that sounds like it would get all gluey... But maybe that's just because I've never had that style of braciole...

Emily

Edited November 12, 2010 by Emily_R (log)

[Mel Z]

We do a pretty basic one--very thinly cut/pounded steak, rubbed with butter, sprinkled with romano cheese, fresh parsley, salt & pepper...pan seared and then added to our monthly batch of sauce. From what I know, this is more of a southern Italian style...

[Emily_R]

Ok, tried this last night: super thin-cut top round, rolled up around garlic, parmesan, and a ton of fresh parsley and oregano. The meat itself was great -- really tender. I made a MAJOR tactical error with the garlic. I thought the flavor would soften since it would be braising in the meat for 1.5 hours.... Nope. Insanely garlicky -- and a sharp garlic flavor, not mellow. Sigh. My husband also thought there should have been more filling -- the meat was so thin that it rolled so many times he felt like it was just eating flavored meat, not like eating something stuffed and rolled...

So - yes to the top round for sure. Everything else is back to the drawing board...

Em

[nickrey]

Check out this blog for a southern Italian recipe.

Also try looking up involtini rather than braciole. It's one of those dishes that has different names across different parts of Italy.

[ChrisN]

When I make/eat them, I don't want there to be too much filling--usually just salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, celery leaves, and parmesan.