Braciole

Braciole is a thin slice of steak, wrapped around a cheese stuffing and cooked in a thick tomato sauce.  Stop a moment and realize this recipe has STEAK, ITALIAN SAUSAGE, PORK CHOPS PLUS MEATBALLS!  Meat Lovers Rejoice!

This is an all day project (or at least it was for me) so allow yourself time. 

First, prepare sauce and meatball recipe (recipe following this one).  For this dish, make the meatballs approximately 1 inch. 

While the sauce and meatballs are simmering, prepare the following:

1 lb. round steak or London Broil

½ cup bread crumbs

¼ - ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped fine

¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

3 cloves garlic, minced

Coarse Black Pepper and Salt

Ask the butcher to slice the steak up into ¼” thin pieces.  Take the steak slices and place them between two pieces of wax paper.  Pound with a mallet until the pieces are approximately 7" x 3" and relatively rectangular in shape.  Trim the pieces as necessary to have them rectangular.

Mix the bread crumbs, parsley, parmesan cheese and minced garlic in a bowl until thoroughly combined.  Divide the mixture evenly between the pieces of meat.  Sprinkle on salt and coarse black pepper.  Press mixture lightly into steak.

Roll up the meat tightly and tie with cooking string.  You will need about three pieces of string for each piece.  Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Sear the rolls until golden brown on all sides.  Add them to the sauce.

While the braciole is simmering with the meatballs, prepare the pork chops as follows:

Take four thinly sliced pork chops, sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and sear in a skillet for about 2 to 3 minutes on each side.  Add the chops to the sauce and stir gently.  Let everything simmer for a few hours, stirring occasionally.  If you'd like, you can also add several links of sweet Italian sausage at this point.

When ready to serve, carefully remove the braciole and cut string. Cook spaghetti and when al dente, drain and put in large serving bowl.  Ladle sauce, meatballs, braciole, sausage and pork chops onto pasta and serve. 

Eat and then sleep for about 14 -16 hours. 

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Spaghetti and Meatballs

Ingredients for Meatballs:

1 pound lean ground beef

1 pound Italian sausage

1 pound ground veal

½ cup Italian style bread crumbs

4 - 5 cloves garlic minced

2 eggs - lightly beaten

1 small yellow onion minced

4 ½ Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

4 ½ Tablespoons grated Romano cheese

3 - 4 Tablespoons minced fresh parsley

3 - 4 Tablespoons minced fresh basil

Salt and pepper - to taste

Olive oil

Combine all ingredients and loosely shape into 1 ½ inch balls.  Heat olive oil in large skillet and brown in 3 or 4 batches until all are browned.  Add to sauce and simmer all afternoon.

Note: These can be made ahead and frozen in resealable plastic bags, then added to sauce and heated.

Ingredients for Sauce:

2 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes

1 10 oz. can tomato puree

1 14.5 oz. can petite-diced tomatoes

1 6 oz. tomato paste seasoned with basil, garlic and oregano

Fennel seeds

Oregano

Basil

Heat all the canned tomatoes together until boiling.  Add crushed fennel seeds and oregano and basil to taste.  Add meatballs and turn heat to low and let simmer for several hours.  Adjust seasonings and add additional salt/pepper if needed.