Braciole - it all hangs on the string...

Braciole, its pretty much the platonic antithesis of a vegan foodstuff. I've actually had a dream about it. I'm not entirely certain of how you make it, this is cobbled from my memories. Dear Siblings, chime in here if I'm forgetting things...

You need about 1lb round steak as thinly sliced as you can get it. Once again, advantage Rhode Island. At holiday time in RI, supermarkets carry 'braciole' meat all ready to go. Otherwise you will have to flatten it. Its much more fun to do this with a rolling pin than a meat mallet. Make sure you put the meat between two sheets of saran or waxed paper (you will die from the mess if you don't) and pound it as thinly as you possibly can. Eye round is pretty tough stuff, its going to bounce back a little no matter what you do here....

In a small, separate bowl, combine 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (Progresso, Italian style- which you can get in Dubai! hooray!), 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, a good shake of garlic powder and a lot of chopped parsley (maybe a full 1/4 cup).

Take a piece of the flattened meat and layer it with one slice of cotto or polish ham. (A lot of people use prosciutto for this, but I tend to think its a waste of good cured meat, since you are going to cook it and most of the flavor will go into the gravy) and a thin slice of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle this with the breadcrumb mixture and roll up your braciole.

Now, the critical part. You have to tie it up. You need the right kind of unbleached cotton twine for this. I'm really bad at explaining how to do this, here's a photo:

Make sure its very very tightly tied, because you need to cook them in gravy after. You want to use just one piece of string so it is easy to cut off to serve. Toothpicks are ok in a pinch, but make sure you remove them all and watch out for splinters (ick.)

When you've rolled all the beef up take a well oiled baking sheet and lay them out on it. Cook them, turning once for about 5 -7 min on each side at about 400 degrees. Then add them to a pan of gravy (click for gravy recipe you will want to double this and add a bit of wine to it for cooking the braciole) for a few hours.

I think I might have to have this instead of Turkey for Thanksgiving. Its very hard to find good turkey here....