Sicilian Braciole

The weather hasn’t quite turned cooler yet, but I am already starting to shift into more comfort food type cooking. Every Sunday is pasta night in my house, so this past Sunday, I decided to make something a bit more special than my usual Spaghetti and Meatballs. This recipe for Sicilian Braciole is very loosely based on the Braciole my mother-in-law makes.

I’ve made Braciole in the past, but the addition of pine nuts and raisins is what makes this recipe specifically Sicilian Braciole. The pine nuts become nice and soft in the sauce, and the raisins appear to almost melt away, adding just a touch of sweetness to balance the dish.

This recipe takes a good 5 hours to make, so plan accordingly!

Ingredients:

Sauce:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup dry red or white wine
• 4 (12.5 oz) cans stewed tomatoes
• salt and pepper, to taste

Sicilian Braciole:

• 1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 cups grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dry red or white wine
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 cup olive oil; divided
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 pounds braciole meat (at my butcher, they were referred to as beef roll ups)

Other:

• 1 (16 oz) box spaghetti, cooked al dente
• fresh basil, chopped, for garnish

First, make your sauce. Drizzle the olive oil to a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add in the onions and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Follow with the garlic, parsley, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, and tomato paste, stirring to combine. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add in the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the stewed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, season with salt and pepper, and cover. Let simmer for 30 minutes.

While the sauce cooks, combine the breadcrumbs, pecorino romano, fresh parsley and fresh basil in a medium sized bowl. Season with salt and pepper and sest aside.

Add the raisins to a small bowl, then fill with the wine. Set aside.

Toast your pine nuts in a saute pan over medium heat until fragrant and lightly browned. Keep an eye on them, as they can go from no color to burnt very quickly! Remove from heat and set aside.

Once the pine nuts have cooled, stir into the breadcrumb mixture.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add in the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Follow with the garlic and crushed red pepper, stirring constantly, for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the garlic is cooked but not browned.

Carefully pour in the raisins and wine mixture into the pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine is mostly evaporated, about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, and stir the onion mixture into your breadcrumb mixture, along with 2 more tablespoons olive oil. The mixture should resemble coarse sand.

Lay a couple of the braciole slides on a cutting board.

Spoon some of the breadcrumb mixture on to each slice, pressing down so that the mixture is evenly distributed on each piece.

Starting at a short end, roll up the meat tightly into a pinwheel, then secure in place with toothpicks. Season the roll ups with salt and pepper, and repeat with your remining slices and filling.

When your tomato sauce has finished cooking, remove from heat and blend using an immersion blender (paid link). Add back to the stovetop over low heat.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add a few braciole roll ups at a time and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Note: I push the toothpicks through it as I rotate so I can evenly brown the meat.

Remove from the pan and place in the pot with the sauce. Repeat with your remaining braciole.

Cover the pot and simmer for 3 to 4 hours.

When there is about 30 minutes left of cook time, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and cook the spaghetti according to package directions for al dente.

Before straining the pasta, scoop about 1/2 cup of the pasta water into the tomato sauce pot and stir gently to combine. (Note: the Sicilian braciole at this stage will be very delicate, so if you’d prefer to remove the braciole with tongs before stirring in the pasta water, feel free to do so.)

To serve, divide the spaghetti among bowls. Top with a piece of Sicilian braciole, removing the toothpicks before serving, and extra tomato sauce. Garnish with fresh basil.

It is amazing how the ingredients in this dish are transformed! There is a touch of heat from the red pepper flakes that goes nicely with the rich, meaty sauce and braciole.

The meat is so tender that you don’t need a knife at all. You may find it difficult to even get all of the braciole out of the pot in one piece! If this happens, just stir to break it up within the sauce, no biggie. Just make sure to remove all of the toothpicks!

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