CT Style Making Braciole with Ryan Kristafer & Teresa Dufour!

Spring is in the air and family gatherings for graduations are right around the corner so I wanted to share my recipe for Italian Braciole on CT Style this week. It’s a great make ahead recipe allowing you more time with your guests and less time in the kitchen. As always, it was an amazing time with Ryan and Teresa. Not only are they true professionals making all their hard work appear easy but they are wonderful people too. I am fortunate to be able to continually work with such a great duo!

My Italian Braciole is made with thinly sliced flank steak stuffed with fresh and dried herbs, Reggiano Parmesan & Asiago cheeses, rolled up and sautéed, then simmered in tomato sauce for 2 hours. There are many different versions of braciole depending on your Italian family traditions. Some families put raisins in their braciole, others put sliced hard boiled eggs. That’s what makes this dish so fun, you can be creative and add what ever your heart desires. I do love the German version as well where the beef rouladens are stuffed with mustard, onion, pickles and bacon! Who wouldn’t love that?

Italian Braciole is traditionally made with flank steak but you can also use top round or bottom sliced thinly and pounded out a little. Simmering these beef bundles in Tomato-Basil Sauce for a couple of hours makes for a very tender and flavorful braciole. I like to serve them with rigatoni pasta and a dollop of ricotta. I’m certain that Italian Braciole will become one of your favorite dishes too!

Thank you to A’s Unique Boutique for their endless selection of gorgeous dresses to wear on CT Style! If you haven’t been to the boutique yet I don’t know what you’re waiting for. They have an enormous selection of stunning designer dresses and help you through through the whole process.

If you are going for the Italian theme you might as well treat yourself to some of my appetizer’s like baked asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto, or crab cakes with a homemade remoulade sauce. Then you can really go for it with my SECRET manicotti recipe or homemade spaghetti that’s totally fun for the whole family and easy to make! Then end it all with some chocolate eclairs with the BEST vanilla custard you have ever had …enjoy! 🙂

Ingredients:

• 2 lb flank steak cut in 1/2 then each piece sliced horizontally into 3 layers totaling 6 pieces
• 1 cup grated Reggiano Parmigiano
• 1 cup grated Asiago
• 1 tbsp dried ground Italian seasonings
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 bunch fresh basil
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 recipe tomato-basil sauce but simmered for 1 1/2 – 2 hours
• 1 cup ricotta
• 1 cup red wine or white (I actually prefer to deglaze here with red)
• 1 lb rigatoni

Directions:

• Start sautéing the veggies for the tomato-basil sauce and use the same pan for sautéing the braciole bundles
• Slice your 2lb. steak in half
• Then have your butcher slice each side into 3 horizontal layers
• Now have 6 semi-equal pieces
• Sprinkle 1/2 tsp dried-ground Italian seasoning on each piece of flank
• Sprinkle 1 tbsp each of Reggiano and Asiago on each piece
• Lay whole basil leaves or chop basil and parsley and sprinkle onto flank slices
• Roll up starting at the small end so that you are rolling up with the grain of the meat
• Cut approx 30″ of cotton string and tie a knot at one of the ends
• Then keep wrapping string all around the length of the rolled up flank til you are at the other end
• Now come back tucking under each row of string going across like shown in the video til you get to the end and tie off a knot with the original piece of string you started with
• Add 2 tbsp of olive oil a large pan and a few large cloves of garlic kept whole for extra flavor and sauté 3 rolled up pieces of braciole at a time
• Brown on all sides on medium/high heat about 3-4  minutes each side (remove the garlic coves when golden and smear on a baguette and dip into the tomato-basil sauce when you start to simmer with braciole…YUM!)
• After browning the second batch of (3) braciole add back in the first 3 and de-glaze with red wine (I used white in the show but prefer to use red here)
• Add in puréed tomatoes and simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hours
• Take braciole rolls out, REMOVE the string with a kitchen scissors and slice 3/8″-1/2″ thick
• Serve with pasta (rigatoni) and a dollop of ricotta on top with a few slices of braciole and grated Reggiano…mangia, mangia.
• PS- It’s even better re-heated the 2nd day! 🙂