BEEF BEEFThe braciola, stuffed beef rolled and braised, was and still is part of the Sunday pasta sauce tradition in many Italian American homes across America. If you travel through the Italian communities around America today and ask people, “What dish do you remember eating at home on Sunday?,” the answer is often pasta with braciole and meatballs. Meat was far more available in America than back home in Italy, and adding it to a tomato sauce enhanced the ritual Sunday meal, when the whole family was assembled around the table.
A braciola is easy to make: once you have gathered all the ingredients and rolled them into a thin beef slice, it cooks in the tomato sauce for several hours, rendering a delicious pasta sauce to coat some rigatoni and fork-tender braciole to eat with braised escarole and olive-oil-mashed potatoes.
SERVES 6
1 cup milk
2 cups stale bread cubes
2 to 2½ pounds boneless bottom-round beef rump roast, trimmed of fat
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 hard-boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
¼ cup pine nuts, toasted
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
4 ounces mild provola cheese, cut into ¼-inch sticks (you will need 12 pieces)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1½ cups)
4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled
1 cup dry white wine
Two 28-ounce cans Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, crushed by hand
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon peperoncino flakes
Pour the milk over the bread cubes in a bowl, and let soak while you slice the beef.
Slice the beef into 2-to-3-ounce slices (ideally, you want twelve pieces). Pound the slices all over with a mallet to about ¼ to ¹⁄₈ inch thick. If slices tear, don’t worry—you can patch as necessary, by overlapping the torn pieces of meat.
For the filling: Squeeze the excess milk from the bread, and put the bread in a large bowl. Add the parsley, eggs, pine nuts, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1 teaspoon salt to the bread bowl. Season with pepper.
Lay the pounded beef slices out flat on your work surface, and season with salt. Evenly divide the filling among the slices, approximately 2 to 3 tablespoons for each slice, then spread to within 1 inch of the edge on all slices. Put a piece of provola cheese lengthwise in the middle of each slice. Roll the slices lengthwise, and pin the rolls closed with toothpicks by pinching the meat.
Heat the remaining oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Season the braciole with salt, and add to the pot to brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes on each side, in batches if necessary. Remove the browned braciole to a plate, and toss the onion into the pot. Cook until the onion is softened, about 4 to 5 minutes, then add the garlic. Cook a minute or two, until the garlic is sizzling, then pour the white wine into the pot. Increase heat, bring to a boil, and cook until the wine is almost evaporated, about 4 to 5 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes. Slosh out the tomato cans with 1 cup hot water each and add that as well. Season with the oregano, peperoncino, and the remaining 2 teaspoons salt.
Return the sauce to a boil, return the beef rolls to the pot, and adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cover, and cook until the braciole are very tender, 1¼ to 1½ hours. If the sauce is too thin, remove the braciole to a plate and reduce the sauce over high heat until it thickens to a gravy consistency.
Pan-Seared Steak with Pizzaiola Sauce
What is important to remember about this dish is that the steak and the sauce never cook together. That way, all the meat juices remain in the steak; if you were to cook them together, the juices would seep out. Meanwhile, the pepper-and-mushroom sauce remains bright and fresh with the flavor of the tomatoes and vegetables.
SERVES 4
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
2 cups sliced white button mushrooms
1¼ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon dried oregano
14-ounce can Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, crushed by hand
Four 8-ounce bone-in shell steaks, about 1 inch thick
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the sliced garlic. Let the garlic sizzle a minute, then toss in the bell peppers and mushrooms. Season with 1 teaspoon of the salt and the oregano. Sauté until the mushrooms and peppers are caramelized on the edges, about 5 minutes.
Pour in the tomatoes, and slosh out the can with ½ cup hot water, adding that to the skillet as well. Bring to a simmer, and cook, uncovered, until the sauce is thickened and the peppers break down, about 12 to 15 minutes.
Season the steaks with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Sear them in a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until done to your liking, about 4 minutes per side for medium rare. Let the steaks rest for a few minutes while the sauce finishes cooking.
To serve, put the steaks on plates and top with the pepper sauce. Serve immediately.
About dried oregano: I typically like fresh herbs, but in the case of oregano I prefer it dried. However, I do not like the jarred product: I always buy a bouquet of dried oregano, from either Italy or Greece. It comes wrapped in a plastic bag and is easy to handle. Just rub the oregano in the plastic between your hands and shake the loose leaves out from one side. Then wrap the bouquet to seal it, and store in a dry place for next time.
Oregano is great to flavor sauces, stuffing, in braised meats, and on pizza and focaccia. I even use it when I make myself sunny-side-up eggs with grated Grana Padano.
One would think that meatloaf is very American, but its origins are actually in a German colonial dish of minced pork mixed with cornmeal. Italians serve it a lot as well, and in this rendition the cultures blend deliciously with the addition of a pestata, a paste of carrots, celery, and onions. Not only does the meatloaf taste delicious, but it is foolproof, moist every time. The leftovers reheat as if just cooked, and Italians love to serve it with roasted potato wedges.
SERVES 10 OR MORE
2 cups cubes of country bread with crust
1 cup milk
2 medium carrots, cut into chunks
2 medium stalks celery, cut into chunks
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1½ pounds ground beef
1½ pounds ground pork
1 bunch scallions, trimmed and chopped
1 cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 cup marinara sauce or puréed canned tomatoes
½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
NOTE This recipe could also be made with a piece of beef tenderloin, seared and then sliced.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Put the bread cubes in a medium bowl, and pour the milk over them. Let the bread soak until it is soft. Meanwhile, combine the carrots, celery, and onion in a food processor, and pulse to make a fine-textured paste or pestata.
When the bread is soft, squeeze out the excess milk and put the bread in a large mixing bowl. Mix the pestata, ground meats, scallions, grated cheese, marinara sauce, parsley, salt, and oregano with the bread, using your hands to distribute all of the ingredients evenly. Oil a 10-by-15-inch Pyrex or ceramic baking dish with the olive oil. Form the meat mixture into a loaf in the oiled pan.
Place in the oven, and bake until browned and cooked through (the center of the meatloaf should read 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer), about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
Back on Arthur Avenue: Salumi hanging at the Calabria Pork Store; weighing meat on a scale at Biancardi Meats