Italian Beef Braciole Recipe: Great for Cool Evenings Cooking at Home (2024)

FAQs

What is the best cut of meat for braciole? ›

I prefer top round (often sold as London broil) for braciole. It's inexpensive and works great. Depending on where you shop, you may be able to find thinly sliced top round that's marked as “for braciole”, but if you need to filet a whole top round, I walk you through that process in the steps below.

You can easily make braciole a day or two ahead of time, I've done that many times especially for parties. If I make them ahead of time for a party I also like to take my time removing the strings and cutting the rolls while they're cold.

Further, if you haven't pounded the meat thin enough, it can still be tough after cooking, so make sure to pound it to an even, thin slice. Lastly, the cooking time matters, as if you cook it too short it can be tough, so make sure to cook it slow and prolonged to get a more tender result.

Braciole is an Italian-style roulade, a rolled and stuffed meat. It is also called involtini, or bruciuluni in Sicilian. The etymology of the word translates to slice of meat rolled over coals. The meat — typically beef, veal, or pork — is pounded thin and stuffed with prosciutto, breadcrumbs, cheese, and herbs.

The other common way to make braciole is to use the top round cut of beef, which is a little less expensive than flank steak. Instead of being prepared as one long, thin roast, top round is sliced and pounded into multiple smaller steaks that are then rolled into individual bundles.

Cook your meat ahead of time, too.

And it's so easy. Preheat your oven to 250ºF, then place the roast in the oven and cook until it registers 120ºF in the center. Let it cool uncovered at room temperature for at least an hour, then stick it in the fridge (this can be done the day before).

Never brown or partially cook meat or poultry to refrigerate and finish later because any bacteria present would not have been destroyed. It is safe to partially cook meat and poultry in the microwave or on the stove only if the food is transferred immediately to the hot grill to finish cooking.

Salting meat ahead of time thoroughly flavors it and makes it juicier. The longer salt has to do its magic, the better. Salt most things the day before.

Pizza. Besides pasta, pizza is perhaps the most popular and recognized Italian food. Pizza is considered a national symbol representing Italy to the rest of the world, so much so that UNESCO has acknowledged pizza as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

What is the hardest Italian food to make? ›

The complex dishes we have explored - Timballo di Maccheroni, Saltimbocca alla Romana, Suckling Pig (Porceddu), Stuffed Calamari (Calamari Ripieni), and Pasticcio di Lasagna - represent the epitome of Italian gastronomy.

Depending on the cut of meat you're dealing with, taking most quick-cooking steaks (sirloin for example) to medium (or 140ºF) is a good bet. The exception to this rule is tougher cuts of meat like brisket that need to be cooked longer to become tender.

noun,plural bra·ci·o·las, bra·ci·o·le [brah-chee-oh-ley, brah-choh-; Italian brah-chaw-le]. Italian Cooking. a flat piece of veal or beef rolled around a filling and baked in stock and wine.

If you have never had braciole, it is basically thin flank steak stuffed with a bread crumb mixture and rolled up.

Tenderloin steak and top blade steaks ranked first and second. Top round steak ranked last. Roasts were more tender than steak counterparts.

Black Angus filet mignon is the most tender cut of beef used for steaks. It comes from the smaller end of the tenderloin and should be well-marbled. You can grill it or cook it in a skillet and is best served blue rare or rare. Blue rare is a style of cooking that is becoming very popular for meat lovers.

The cut of beef used for Italian beef is typically chuck roast. However, top sirloin, top round, or bottom round would also work well. Giardiniera. A delicious blend of pickled vegetables that adds that wonderful, classic flavor to Italian beef.