Rachaels Sicilian Sunday Braciole Food

MY MAMA'S BRACIOLE

Steps:

• Season meat with salt and pepper. Top each slice of meat with a slice of prosciutto. In a medium bowl, moisten bread crumbs with milk. Add grated cheese, onion, parsley, arugula, salt and pepper to the crumbs and combine well. Spread a thin layer of stuffing down the center of each beef slice and roll tightly. Fasten rolled meat with plain toothpicks.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add oil to a hot pan along with garlic. Set meat into pan and brown on all sides, 6 minutes. Remove the meat from the pan. Add butter to the pan. Add mushrooms to the melted butter. Saute mushrooms 5 minutes. Add flour to the pan and cook 2 minutes. Whisk wine into the flour and mushrooms and scrape up pan drippings. Reduce wine 1 minute, then whisk in beef broth and tomato paste. Set meat back into sauce and reduce heat to medium low. Partially cover pan with a cover left ajar an inch. Simmer meat in sauce 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer beef rolls to a platter, removing toothpicks. Pour pan gravy down over the beef rolls and serve.

RACHAEL'S SICILIAN SUNDAY BRACIOLE

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO over medium heat
• Add 1 onion, finely chopped, and 2 cloves garlic, then soften 2-3 minutes
• Add paste, oregano and half the red chili flakes, stir 1 minute, then add 1 cup wine and evaporate to ¼ cup
• Add stock, passata, and tomatoes, then add a few leaves of torn basil, reserving some for garnish, and reduce heat to simmer; add cheese rind
• Preheat oven to 300˚F
• In a small skillet over medium heat, in 1 tablespoon EVOO soften remaining onions and garlic to tender and season with salt and pepper
• Cool, then combine with nuts, lemon zest, chopped greens, and remaining chili flakes
• Season pounded out meat with salt and pepper
• Arrange a slice of Prosciutto on each slice of beef
• Top with cooked onions and greens mixture, breadcrumbs, Parm and provolone, leaving a border of about an inch
• Tuck in sides of beef and roll lengthwise tightly
• Secure rolls with kitchen string
• Heat a large cast-iron skillet with remaining EVOO, then brown beef evenly all over
• Add remaining 1 cup wine and evaporate
• Place the beef into the Dutch oven with the sauce, scraping in bits from the bottom of skillet
• Bring to simmer, cover and place in oven
• Cook 2 hours, basting every 30 minutes; uncover pot for the last hour of cooking
• Sicilian Puttanesca with Almond

SICILIAN STICK TO YOUR RIBS MEAL: MEATLOAF BRASCIOLE (ROLL UPS), PASTA, BROCCOLINI AND RICOTTA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Put water on to boil for your pasta.
• Mix meat and next 10 ingredients as if you were making meatloaf. Flatten meat out on a waxed paper lined cookie sheet into a thin layer: 1/2-inch thick, 12 inches long by 6 to 8 inches wide. Cover meat with arugula or spinach, prosciutto and cheese then roll the meat, using the waxed paper to help roll up into a large log, working across the 6 to 8-inch side, resulting in a 12-inch long log. Drizzle the log with extra-virgin olive oil to coat lightly.
• Roast meatroll 20 minutes. Cut into 1-inch slices, 3 pieces per portion, and serve. Make pasta while meat is in the oven.
• Salt water and cook off pasta, about 7 to 8 minutes to al dente, with a bite to it. Drain and return pasta to hot pot.
• While pasta cooks, place broccolini in 1-inch of water in a sauce pot and bring up to a boil. Add salt to the water and add the trimmed broccolini. Cover and cook 5 minutes, drain and reserve.
• To hot, cooked pasta add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, butter, ricotta, lemon zest, thyme, broccolini and season with salt and pepper. Toss pasta to coat it in the cheese and butter. Season it with salt, to your taste. Portion pasta onto dinner plates alongside meat roll slices and top pasta with tomatoes and freshly ground pepper.

SPINACH STUFFED BRACIOLE IN A SUNDAY SAUCE WITH PAPPARDELLE

Steps:

• For the braciole: Defrost, drain, and wring the frozen organic spinach dry in a clean kitchen towel and separate with your fingertips while adding to a mixing bowl. Season the spinach with salt, black pepper, and a little nutmeg. Add the chopped hard-boiled eggs, currants, pine nuts, finely chopped garlic, and cheese to the bowl and gently combine. Season the meat with salt and pepper and arrange each steak with one of the narrow ends near you. Divide the filling evenly among the meat slices. Scatter the filling over the meat leaving a 1/2-inch edge or border on the sides. Fold the edge over the filling and tuck in the edges as you roll each bundle to secure the filling. Wrap and roll the remaining bundles and secure with kitchen twine to cover the ends and middle, like wrapping a package.
• Heat a large Dutch oven with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil a couple of turns of the pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meat bundles 6 to 8 minutes to evenly caramelize the meat all over.
• For the sauce: Remove the bundles from the pan and add 1 tablespoon more olive oil, give a turn of the pan to coat. Add the chopped carrots, onions, sliced garlic, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Let the vegetables cook 5 minutes to soften, then stir in the chopped rosemary and sage for 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and stir to develop the fragrance, then add the white wine and scrape up the pan drippings. Stir in the chicken stock and tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a spoon or potato masher. Bring the sauce to a bubble, add the meat back to the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook 2 hours more, stirring occasionally.
• After 2 hours, brown the sausages in a frying pan with a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan. Add the browned links to the sauce and gently submerge them, nestling them in with the meat bundles. Simmer the mixture 30 minutes more to cook the sausages through and combine their flavor into the sauce.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil for pasta. Salt the water and cook the pasta to al dente. Reserve a cup of starchy cooking liquid just before draining.
• Remove the meat bundles to a platter and cover with foil to keep warm. Remove the sausages to a separate plate to cool.
• Drain the pasta and return to a hot pot. Add 1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces, and half of the sauce, toss to combine, adding a little starchy cooking water to make it all come together for you.
• Cut the string from the meat and serve the meat dotted with more sauce and sprinkled with fresh parsley on large dinner plates with hot pappardelle pasta topped with fresh basil and some shaved Parm alongside.
• Cook's Note: Reserve the sausages and any remaining spoonfuls of sauce for a make-ahead meal later in the week. Open Faced Sausage, 3 Pepper and Onion Sandwiches with Provolone, recipe follows.
• Special equipment: Kitchen twine .
• To make sandwiches:
• If you are cooking a make-ahead meal with bread that will not be used for a couple of days, place it in the freezer in an airtight bag or wrap well. Unwrap to defrost at room temperature and then crust in a warm oven.
• Meanwhile, heat a couple of tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the onions, cubanelle peppers, chile pepper, and garlic to tender-crisp, 5 minutes more.
• Cook's Note: Do not salt the onions and peppers as it will draw more liquids out and we are undercooking a bit for a make-ahead meal.
• Cool and store the mushroom mixture. To reheat the mushroom mixture: Add a splash of stock or water over medium heat and season with salt and pepper.
• To reheat the sausages: Add a splash of stock or water to the sausages to loosen the sauce. Add a ladle of sauce to the mushroom pan.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Split the bread horizontally then halve into 4 large pieces. Arrange the bread pieces on cooling racks set over baking sheets to allow the heat to circulate all around the bread. Halve the sausages lengthwise. Dot the bread with sauce, top with the sausages cut-side-down, dot with more sauce and top with peppers and cheese. Bake the bread 12 to 15 minutes, or until melted and brown at the edges. Garnish with parsley and serve.

CHICKEN CUTLETS BRASCIOLE

Steps:

• Pour very hot tap water into a small bowl. Add raisins and plump 5 minutes.
• Lightly toast nuts in a small skillet over medium low heat.
• Drain raisins and pat dry. Place raisins, nuts, parsley, lemon zest, garlic, torn bread and cheese into processor and pulse into a stuffing.
• Butterfly the chicken open by cutting into and across the breast but not all the way through. Pound out the cutlets and season the chicken with salt and pepper. Fill the breasts with stuffing, roll and secure with toothpicks.
• Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the brasciole all over 7 to 8 minutes, remove and set aside. Deglaze pan with wine, scraping up the drippings. Stir in tomatoes and tarragon, add chicken back, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Slice and serve.

BRACIOLA AND SAUSAGE SUNDAY GRAVY

Steps:

• Sprinkle the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. In a bowl, combine half of the cheese, the breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup parsley, pine nuts, lemon zest, salami, minced garlic and the finely chopped chile pepper. Top the steaks, leaving a 1-inch border. Roll and tie the meat.
• Heat about 2 tablespoons of EVOO in a pot over medium-high heat. When the oil smokes, add the meat bundles and brown. Remove the meat bundles, then add the sausages and cook until brown, then remove. Add about 1 tablespoon of EVOO and reduce the heat to medium, then stir in the fennel seeds and cook for 15 seconds. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, then add the tomatoes, bay leaf, carrots, celery and halved onion. Break up the tomatoes, and add the passata, then stir in the basil and season with salt and pepper. Slide the meat and sausages into the sauce and bring to a bubble, reduce the heat and simmer partially covered for a couple of hours, stirring occasionally.
• In a skillet, heat about 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, then add the sliced onions, cubanelles, red bell peppers and sliced chile pepper, and cook to soften, stirring frequently, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the stock, the remaining 1/4 cup parsley, tomato paste and season with salt and pepper. Simmer 15 minutes more.
• For a make-ahead meal, cool the sauce and meat and refrigerate. Reheat over a medium-low flame on the stovetop until warmed through. Store the onions and peppers separately and reheat over medium-low heat in small skillet.
• To serve, bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water and cook the spaghetti to al dente.
• Place the meat and sausages on a serving platter. Remove the onions, carrots, celery and bay leaf.
• Add about 1 cup of the starchy cooking water to the sauce, then put half of the sauce in a gravy boat. Melt the butter into the remaining sauce and toss with the pasta and cheese. Serve the pasta alongside the meat roll and sausage. Top the pasta and meat with more sauce and cheese, and serve the peppers and onions on top of the sausage.