Mama Jeanne's Braciole

Today's Italian lesson is a savory dish called Braciole (pronounced Brajole).In Italian American cuisine, Braciole is the name given to thin slices of meat (typically pork, chicken, or beef) that are rolled as a roulade or rollatini and stuffed with a filling. We are using a delicious blend of parsley, garlic and raisins for our filling.

Ingredients

• 10 -12 thinly sliced pieces of beef
• 2 cans of crushed tomatoes
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 head of fresh parsley
• 1 box of golden raisins
• 2 heads of garlic
• olive oil
• sea salt
• fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

1. look for thinly sliced beef or ask your butcher for thin cuts of beef, you can also make the beef cuts thinner by pounding between 2 sheets of wax paper
2. rub olive oil onto the meat, salt & pepper
3. blend together the parsley, garlic, raisins & olive oil in a food processor in equal parts to yield around 3 cups
4. spread the parsley mixture onto the flat thin pieces of beef
5. roll each piece up and secure with toothpicks or string
6. saute the chopped onion and 4-5 cloves of garlic in olive oil
7. brown the beef rolls in the onion & garlic
8. add the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes to the pot and simmer for an hour on medium heat
9. when ready to serve, pull out toothpicks or cut off string, slice and serve with the stewed tomato sauce
10. buon appetito!(if you have any left overs, the meat & sauce are even better on the 2nd day!)