Beef Braciole served with Orecchiette

Braciole is a classic Italian-American dish as well as a family favourite. You just can't go wrong with double meat, minced sausage or bacon wrapped in beef sirloin steaks stuffed with Parmesan cheese, Italian herbs and flat leaf parsley. The braciole is served with orecchiette which is a Puglian type of pasta, from Southern Italy. Shaped like little ears the texture is rather chewy on the outer rim and softer towards the centre.

Ingredients: 1 kg round steak, 650 g Italian sausage or 2 thick rashers of bacon, 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley (or 1/4 cup dried parsley), 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp dried Italian seasoning, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp lemon-pepper seasoning, 2 tblsp olive oil, 1 large onion, chopped, 1/2 cup chopped carrot, 1-1/2 cups Burgundy wine, 1 450 g can Romano tomatoes, 1 170 g can tomato paste, 1 tsp salt, 1 bay leaf, 250 g orecchiette

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Method: Trim all fat from the round steak, cut the meat into eight equal pieces, then pound until fairly thin with a cooking mallet. Remove the casing from the Italian sausage break the sausage up in a medium-sized bowl add parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and the lemon-pepper seasoning and mix thoroughly by hand (the mixture is too moist an thick to use a spoon or spatula so just get into it the good old fashioned way). Spread each steak with roughly 1 heaped tablespoonfuls of the sausage mixture then roll up, jelly-roll fashion. Fasten each roll with wooden toothpicks. Brown beef rolls, 3 or 4 at a time, in hot oil in a hot pan/ oven. Remove rolls and place on plate or waxed paper. Add onion and carrot to pot. Cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes or so. Stir in wine, tomatoes, tomato paste, remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and bay leaf. Bring the tomato sauce mixture to the boil, then lower the heat and add the beef rolls. Cover and simmer on low heat for 1 hour, stir occasionally to prevent the sauce from sticking to the pan at any time. Remove from heat allow and to cool slightly before remove the toothpicks. Cut the braciole into diagonal slices and serve atop a bowl of orecchiette tossed with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, half a tsp of dried Italian herbs and a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce the braciole was cooked in.

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Step 1: Put the steak between cling wrap and flatten with a mallet

Step 2: Combine the bacon if using or remove the Italian sausage from casing and combine with flat-leaf parsley, Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, and the lemon-pepper seasoning

Step 3: Spread each steak with roughly 1 heaped tablespoonfuls of the sausage mixture

Step 4: Brown beef rolls, 3 or 4 at a time, in hot oil in a hot pan

Step 5: Bring the tomato sauce to the boil, then lower the heat and add the beef rolls, simmer for an hour