Pasta e "Braciole"
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Loading...Pasta and Braciole (meat rolls) is a typical southern Italian dish that closely resembles the famous "ragù" of which it is a simpler version that is prepared especially in summer. In fact, it is a real single dish because the meat, stuffed with mortadella or prosciutto, cheese and vegetables, is cooked for a long time in tomato sauce. The result is an excellent sauce for seasoning the pasta. Traditionally, pasta with sauce is eaten as "first" (main course) followed by meat rolls which are served as "second" (second course) rigorously in the same dish, so as not to waste any leftover sauce from the pasta. It is a simple preparation, which requires long cooking and a lot of “love” but which gives great satisfaction
Ingredients
- Meat 8 slices (about 600gr)
- Italian Tomato "Passata"(puree9 1 liter and a half
- Mortadella (or Prosciutto) 8 slices (about 80gr)
- Provolone cheese 8 thin slices (about 80gr)
- Carrot 1
- Celery 1
- Garlic 2 cloves
- Rosemary
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt & Pepper
Instructions
Wash the vegetables and cut them into sticks, possibly the same size
Matt each slice of meat between 2 sheets of foil and beat them with a meat mallet or a rolling pin, to make them thinner. Then prepare the braciole: salt and pepper the meat, arrange a slice of cheese, a slice of mortadella, a couple of sticks and roll them up. You can fix each meat roll with toothpick or kitchen string
Put the garlic, rosemary and oil in a big pan (large and high) and heat until the garlic is golden. Remove it and the rosemary and add the rolls one at a time (be careful because the oil could splash). Leave to cook for 5 minutes then turn so that they brown on all sides
When the rolls are well colored, add the tomato puree. Salt, close with the lid and cook over low heat for at least an hour, better an hour and a half
Check regularly that the meat does not stick to the bottom of the pan and that the tomato sauce does not shrink too much: keep warm water handy to add if necessary, little by little. You have to get a smooth but not too liquid sauce
Cook the pasta and in the meantime remember to free the rolls from the sticks or the kitchen string. Season the pasta with the sauce and bring to the table, the rolls to eat in the same dish will follow, so as not to waste any remaining sauce
Notes
Pasta and Braciole is a simple, rich and succulent dish that follows one of the greatest Italian culinary traditions, the tomato sauce with the meat used to season the pasta. "Braciola" indicates both the cut of meat (chop) and a March roll stuffed with whatever you prefer: usually a slice of mortadella, cheese and some vegetables, even if there are those who add even half a hard-boiled egg! When I decide to prepare my braciole, I make a lot of them, small in size: they are tastier and, if they are left over, they can be kept for a few days or frozen
ItalianCookingTips
For this recipe I used “Candele” (candles), a very ancient pasta format which are the ancestors of the famous “rigatoni”. They are in fact long pipes that must be broken with the hands to make smaller ones. You can use your favorite pasta: rigatoni, penne or fusilli are excellent!
ItalianCookingTips
The quality of the meat is fundamental: it must face a long cooking and for this you must ask your butcher for a soft and rather fat cut otherwise you will have hard and chewy chops
ItalianCookingTips
Cooking is also essential. Let your chops cook a lot (at least an hour and a half), covered with a lid, adding a little hot water if the tomato sauce shrinks too much
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