Braciole

Do you want something Italian but not pasta? Why don't you try making Braciole?

Braciole is a meat dish wonderfully cooked, drenched and stuffed with Italian seasonings. 

I found Giada de Laurentis' version easy to do, but made some tweaking of my own to save time and ingredients. I'm sure hers taste wonderful, but my short cuts didn't really make it come out too bad! 

Check out her video at the end.

What you will need:

1 (about a pound and a half) Flank Steak

1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs

4 tbsp Olive Oil (2 tbsp for drizzling and 2 tbsp for cooking)

1 tbsp Garlic Powder

1/2 tbsp Parsley flakes

1 cup Grated Italian Blend Cheese

1 cup white wine (I used White Zinfandel because it's a tad sweet and it was the one I had at home)

salt and pepper

a jar of marinara sauce - about 3 cups ( I used one flavored with roasted garlic, onions and pepper)

You will also need:

butchers twine

foil

A cooking pan deep enough to hold a roll of meat and some sauce and can transfer from stove to oven

What to Do:

Preheat  your oven to 350F

Blend the bread crumbs, garlic powder, parsley flakes and cheese together in a bowl and set aside. 

Lay the flank steak flat on a surface and spread the bread crumb mixture on top of it. Drizzle with some olive oil. This will help keep the bread crumb mixture intact and held together.

Now starting with the short end, roll the meat to enclose the filling and secure with butcher twine. 

season all sides with salt and pepper.

Prepare your pan and heat up the left  over olive oil for cooking.

Place the meat and brown on all sides. 

Pour the wine on the meat and let it boil in the pan. 

Pour in the marinara sauce.

Remove from stove, and partially cover with foil. This will keep your sauce from reducing to a tomato paste consistency.

Put the pan in the oven. Cook for 1 hour. 

Check the meat at 30 minutes to baste with the sauce. 

Remove the foil cover and continue baking for another 30 minutes. 

Total cooking time in the oven is 1.5 hours. Don;t worry, this will make the meat so mouth watering and tomato-ey tender. 

Remove from oven. Take the meat out from the sauce and remove the butcher's twine. Slice to about 1/2 inch slices and serve by spooning some of the the sauce on top.

Enjoy!!! 

Here's Giada's Braciole Video from the Cooking Channel