Braciole with Basil, Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Penne – Gluten Free!

A funny thing happened with my Korean bulgogi recipe tonight. It ended up being Italian Braciole. Now how could I get those two mixed up? Well, it started with the fact the Subject Matter Expert (sarcasm) behind the meat counter assured me that beef round steak was used to make bulgogi. I asked him for the “triangle steak” also known as “tri-tip” but he insisted.

When I got home, my inspirational magazine article with the bulgogi recipe indeed called for tri-tip. What’s a girl to do with round steak?! Roll it and stuff it, of course! That was the easy part. I already had mozzarella, garlic, basil and prosciutto. Stuffing done. Now, what to braise it in?!

The tricky part about round steak is it’s not exactly tender so you don’t want to boil it or overcook it. Braising works great because you brown it, put some kind of liquid with it, bring to a boil and then simmer for about an hour until it’s nice and tender.

As I was researching what the best simmer sauce would be, I came across “braciole.” It’s pronounced “bra-zhul” in America and is basically a stuffed, rolled round steak simmered in a sauce. I’d say that my foreshadowing was the Italian in me, but I’m actually Greek so we’ll go with “I got lucky on this one.”

Don’t be scared off from the amount of text in this recipe. It’s actually pretty easy to make. Stuff and roll the meat. Saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms. Brown the meat. Add some red wine and pre-made sauce. Bring to a boil. Simmer for an hour. Viola! Done.

This recipe servers 4 and took about an hour and a half to make.

Details below:

Ingredients:

1 1/4 lb of beef round steak, sliced into four thin pieces (see below)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp minced garlic glove
1 cup of shredded mozzarella
3 Tbsp freshly chopped basil
4 strips of thin prosciutto
4 toothpicks
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup red wine (Chianti works perfect)
2-3 cups of spaghetti sauce (Prego Traditional is gluten free)
*Optional – 1 package of gluten free penne pasta

Directions:

Place the round steak on a flat surface and gently tenderize with the back of a chef’s knife
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Layer the garlic, basil, prosciutto and mozzarella cheese
Roll from the larger end to the small end and secure with toothpick (make sure and remove toothpick before serving!)
Heat oil in large pot that has a lid
Saute the onions, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat for about 3-4 minutes until the onions are clear
Remove the onions, garlic and mushrooms from the oil and add the beef rolls
Brown on each side (about 3-4 min total)
Return the onions, garlic and mushrooms to the pot
Add the wine and spaghetti sauce
Bring to a boil
Then reduce heat and simmer for one hour, covered
During the last 15 minutes, make your gluten free pasta
Once the meat is done, remove it from the pot and let it rest five minutes. During this time, skim the fat from the sauce
You can serve the meat right on top of the pasta or cut it (as shown below). Ladle sauce on top.

(mine is pictured with Udi’s gluten free bread done up all garlic-butter style)

The ingredients (wine not pictured)

Layering the stuffing

Rolling, rolling, rolling…

The saute

The browning

Getting saucy!

Note: A special thanks to hubby for running out and getting some tri-tip tonight for tomorrow’s dish. Stop by again tomorrow. Korean Bulgogi coming soon for all my friends!