Braciole

This is my rendition of a delicious old school Italian dish. The kind of dish I would imagine the Italian side of my family enjoyed Sunday evening after church. I don't know much about them, but I've always longed for the kind of family dinners you see big Italian families attending in movies. I have a friend whose family is from the same Brooklyn neighborhood my Grandfather grew up in, being a dinner guest at her house gave me a taste of the Italian family I'd dreamed of but never experienced. Not to knock the family I have. We always had amazing family dinners and lots of love.

This was my first time preparing this dish. I read about 100 different recipes, and picked out what I liked from each. I then adapted the ingredients based on what I had in my kitchen. I urned out delicious, and my husband adored it. This would be a perfect dish to make for a dinner party.

I didn't measure out the filling ingredients, so these are estimations of what I used for 2 people.

thinly sliced flank steak - 1 per person

2 TBS chopped shallots, sauteed just enough to soften them
Panko breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
Spinach - 1/4 cup
1 clove garlic - I grate it with a microplane zester
10 basil leaves
a handful of Parmesan cheese
a handful of grated Mozzarella
Spaghetti sauce - I used a jar of 4 cheese sauce

Pound the steaks thin between 2 pieces of waxed paper. Season with salt and pepper. Heat a few TBS of olive oil in a skillet. Mix filling ingredients together. Spoon a few TBS of filling over each steak. Roll up and tie with butcher's twine or secure with toothpicks. Brown quickly in skillet. Lower heat, add sauce and simmer 60-90 minutes, turning occasionally. Check for tenderness. Remove twine and serve. I had extra filling, so I spooned it over the tops and put it under the broiler to brown up. I probably wouldn't have bothered with this step if I weren't already using an oven-safe skillet. I served this with a big salad and creamy polenta.