Braciola

For Christmas, I recieved Giada de Laurentis' cookbook, Everyday Italian. It is an amazing book that breaks down all the basics of Italian cooking. One rainy Sunday, I decided to experiment with a recipe I had never heard of before, called Braciola. It is a signature beef dish that is prepared  like a rollatini and can be stuffed with a variety of ingredients.

Warning: Start this recipe early as it takes almost 3 hours to bake.

Braciola

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried Italian bread crumbs
1 garlic clove
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup provolone
2 tbs chopped parsley
4 tbs olive oil
S & P
1 flank steak
1 cup white wine
3 1/4 cup marinara sauce (whatever kind you like)

Preparation:

1. Combine bread crumbs, garlic, both cheeses, parsley, ONLY 2 TBS of olive oil and S & P in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Lay flank steak flat and evenly coat with entire bread crumb mixture. Starting at one end, as tightly as possible, roll up the flank steak. Have someone help you tie it securely in several places with twine.  S & P the entire Braciola.



3. Heat remaining olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Brown Braciola on all sides for a total of about 8 minutes.
4. Add wine to pan and bring to a boil. Add in marinara sauce and cover partially with foil. Transfer to oven. Cook for 1.5 hours, turning Braciola and basting with marinara from bottom of pan every 30 min. For the last 30 min, bake uncovered.