Braciole with Au Gratin Potatoes & Arugula Pecorino Salad
Fancy dinners are better when shared, so often times when an extra fancy recipe catches my eye I use it as an excuse to bring over the peeps. I mean good food is the BEST reason for people to come over and have fun at the house. So that's exactly what we're doing this last weekend of March - dinner, board games, & drinks. Plus this is a needed night for me & an appreciated distraction because I had the WORST fomo watching all my friends party poolside in Palm Springs all weekend long for one of my girls birthdays. Oye - the almost tears that came to my eye scrolling through Instagram were the worst. Learning lesson - moving away from your best friends is really hard, and just watching all the fun times happen via social media instead of being there to experience it makes it even harder. All I can say is thank god for my husband and how much I love datenights in with him, and thank god he tolerates me spending my Saturday afternoon coordinating dinner and a fun night in to offset my pity party.
Scrolling through Pinterest looking through my favorite magazine, Food Network Mag, trolling for new recipe ideas to add to my repertoire, I stumbled upon Braciole. Something I've never even heard of, but I mean just saying it makes me feel fancy. Essentially it's fancy Italian beef rolls smothered in homemade red sauce, stuffed with cheese and bread crumbs, and just looking at them on the page made my mouth water. I knew I had to give it a go, put my own little spin on it with my favorite cheeses and go to skillet marinara, and just see what's it's all about. I mean holy balls was it good & it looked so pretty on the plate. Our guests were in the kitchen when I pulled it out of the oven, and let's just say the big reveal went well. It looks appetizing and is a fun, non-pasta Italian treat.
I mean the wow factor is that this is essentially a rolled meat dish, and you can see the layers of beef & bread crumbs & cheese. & that is what made me nervous. There's clearly some technique in this bad boy. But I mentally prepared - eliminated distractions, read several articles about successfully rolling meat, and gave it a go. The two keys for success - pound the meat real thin & use toothpicks. The toothpicks are definitely needed - it keeps the meat nice and rolled up during the cooking process so come dinner time you have pretty little beef rolls that don't totally fall apart once they make it to your plate. I was even surprised with how well tooth-picking the beef rolls worked!
Putting together this at home night in with one of our favorite couple, I wanted it to be a well thought out meal & one that wouldn't leave us gut busted at the end. I settled on pairing Beef Braciole with Au Gratin Potatoes & an Arugula-Pecorino Salad. I lightened the potatoes by subbing half the dairy for almond milk and not going totally crazy with the cheese. The arugula salad is easy peasy to make, and literally takes five minutes to whip up. It's a dinner with Italian vibes through and through, and a well paired meal that was perfect shared with some of our favorite people.
For the Potatoes
3 potatoes, scrubbed and peeled
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. unsweetened almond milk
10 fresh sage leaves
1 pinch of cayenne
1 c. shredded gruyere cheese
Salt & pepper
For the Braciole
1-28 ounce can of San Marzanos
4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3 tbsp tomato paste
4 c. chicken broth
about 1.5 lb beef bottom round, thinly sliced into at least 4 disks (go to a good butcher and get them to thinly slice it for you)
2 c. panko bread crumbs
1/2 c. almond milk
1/2 c. grated parmesan
1/2 c. fresh parsley
1 c. shredded gruyere cheese
EVOO
Salt & pepper
For the Arugula Salad
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp EVOO
1 tbsp honey
4-6 cups of arugula
1/4 c. shaved pecorino
3 tbsp walnuts, chopped
Salt & pepper
Start by making the potatoes. Set a large saucepan over medium-high heat, and add in the cream, almond milk, sage leaves, and cayenne. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and let the mixture continue to simmer for 10 minutes. While the sauce cooks, prep the potatoes. Using a mandolin, thinly slice all of the potatoes. You'll want to immediately use the potatoes so they don't brown! Grease the bottom and sides of a large rectangular baking dish with just a splash of EVOO (like a teaspoon worth at most) - pour it right into your pan and spread it around with a paper towel. Layer half of the potato slices in your baking dish, setting the other half of the potato slices aside. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the gruyere over the first layer of potatoes along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then go ahead and layer the rest of the potatoes right on top, and sprinkle that top layer with another pinch of both salt and pepper. Now is the fun part - adding the cream sauce. Just pour the whole thing, sage leaves and all, right over the top of the potatoes. The final touch is sprinkling the potatoes with the rest of the cheese. Set the assembled dish in the fridge and wait to bake until 90 minutes before dinner.
Now move to the braciole. Start by making the sauce. Pour the entire can of tomatoes in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside - you'll use them in just a moment. Next, place a large skillet (like the biggest one you have) over medium heat. Add in about 2 tbsp of EVOO along with the garlic. Let the garlic toast and slightly brown in the skillet, letting it cook in olive oil for about 2 minutes. Then add in the tomato paste, stirring it in with the garlic, letting that cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Next pour in all of the pureed tomatoes, the broth, a pinch of both salt and pepper, and bump up the heat to bring the sauce to a boil. Once boiling, let the sauce, simmer for 12-15 minutes.
As the sauce cooks, prep the meat. Start by laying each slice of meat between two pieces of plastic wrap. Using a small skillet, rolling pin, or meat tenderizer if you have one, pound each piece of meat until it's super thin. Like less than a 1/4 inch thick. Pull off the seran wrap and lay the slices of meat on a plastic cutting board with the short sides of the meat facing you.
In a separate, bowl mix together the breadcrumbs and the milk. Next, add in the grated parmesan, the parsley, and a pinch of both salt and pepper. Use a fork or your hands to stir it all together. Now it's time to roll. You'll want to sprinkle the bread crumb mixture over the top of each piece of meat, leaving a small border around the edges of each piece of meat (like 1/16 inch thick). The bread crumb consistency is soft, so to make sure it sticks in your roll press the bread crumbs into the meat. The next step is sprinkling the cheese horizontally on the short side of the meat facing you. Now it's time to roll! Start with the short side of meat where the cheese is, and tightly roll the meat towards the opposite end and secure the rolled bundle with 2 toothpicks. Once all the meat is rolled up, place each tooth-picked meat roll right into the sauce. Decrease the heat to medium low, cover the skillet, and let the beef cook stovetop for one hour and fifteen minutes.
Once the cook time for the beef is up, uncover the skillet. Flip the meat, reduce the heat to low, and let the whole thing continue to cook uncovered for another hour so the sauce will thicken. This is also a great time to throw the potatoes in the oven. Place aluminum foil over the au gratin potatoes, and place the dish in a 350 degree oven. Roast the dish covered for 40 minutes, and then uncover and roast for another 20 minutes.
As everything cooks, now is the best time to quickly whip up the salad, which really is so easy. In a small mason jar with a lid, or other Tupperware container, pour in the vinegars, EVOO, honey, and a small pinch of both salt and pepper. Screw on the lid and shake the shit out of the whole thing. Set the dressing aside until dinner time. Pour the arugula in your serving bowl. Sprinkle the walnuts and pecorino right on top of the arugula, and drizzle with a bit of balsamic glaze if you'd like (I personally like!).
After the last hour of cook time for the beef is up, time to remove the toothpicks and plate it up! Remove all of the beef from the skillet and place on the cutting board. Using your sharpest knife, slice each beef roll in half and then pull out each of the toothpicks. Give the sauce a stir, scraping the bottom of the skillet and stirring in any pieces of breadcrumbs that cook out into the sauce. Place each piece of beef back in the sauce and increase the heat back to medium, bring the sauce back up to the simmer. Once back to hot, plate of the beef by placing it on your favorite serving tray and topping it with all the sauce. Finish it off by garnishing it with the leftover parsley.
Serve the braciole right alongside the potatoes and salad, and all you need to do with the salad before serving is pour the dressing right on top. It's perfect!
