Beef Olives Bragioli Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Beat each slice of meat flat with a kitchen mallet or fleischklobber and spread them out on your work surface.
• Grind the bread to crumbs.
• Prepare a stuffing by mixing the crumbs with the chopped bacon, garlic, parsley and seasoning. (Not the bay leaves; those come in later.)
• Heap a tablespoon or two of the stuffing onto each beef slice, and top with a slice or segment of hard boiled egg.
• Roll the meat slices lengthwise over the stuffing, and tie up with thread, or fasten together with wooden toothpicks.
• Pour some oil or melt some lard in a large pan, and brown the beef olives all over in this, together with the bay leaves.
• Transfer the browned bragoli to a large casserole dish.
• In the same oil or fat, dry the sliced onion and carrot. Pour the wine over the frying onions, let it bubble, and then pour this sauce over the bragioli in the casserole.
• Stew very gently for 1 1/2 hours. (You may have to add a little more wine, stock or water to top up the braising liquid, but don't add too much: otherwise the bragioli will not braise correctly.
• When the bragioli are ready, remove the thread or toothpicks and serve with peas and mashed potatoes, spooning the sauce over.

Steps:

• Combine all the stuffing ingredients in a bowl. Open the meat slices on a chopping board, cover with plastic and flatten with a kitchen mallet. Spoon the stuffing on the centre of each slice and roll it up. Insert long toothpicks into the olives so that you secure the ends well.
• Cook the onions and garlic for a few minutes in a saucepan, with enough water to cover the onions. Add the beef olives and cook over medium heat until the meat becomes light brown. Remove the beef olives and set aside.
• Add the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, tomato paste, stock cube, herbs and wine to the saucepan and stir. Season with pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Put the bragoli back into the saucepan and add the peas. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the sauce has reduced and thickened. If need be, add water or wine should the mix start to dry up before the meat is cooked.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 175C.
• Fry the onions, garlic, mushrooms until soft. Add to the raw bacon and set aside.
• Place the beef on a flat surface and beat with a rolling pin or food hammer until very thin (approx 1cm thick). Spread each beef slice with the mustard. Fill with the prepared stuffing.
• Cut the leek in half and blanche for 30 seconds in boiling water/cold water so that the leek is stringy. Cut the leek in thin strips long ways.
• Roll the beef slices over the stuffing and use the leek strings to secure the beef. Fry the beef on all sides until brown and place in an oven proof dish.
• Fry the remaining onion, carrot and celery in a pan for 5 minutes. Add passatta, red wine and beef stock and stir. Pour over the beef olives and cook in the oven with a lid on for 3 hours.
• Remove the beef olives from the dish and keep warm. Blend the remaining sauce until no lumps remain. Served with seasonal vegetables.