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ITALIAN FOOD
Nana’s Bruccialuna
FOR THE STUFFING
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
½ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ cup grated provolone cheese
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 or 2 raw eggs
Salt and pepper
2 hardboiled eggs, peeled
2 carrots
HOW TO PREP
Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, garlic and oregano
in a bowl. Add one raw egg and salt and
pepper to taste. If the consistency of the
mixture seems dry, add and mix in the second
egg. Peel the 2 carrots in half lengthwise.
FOR THE MEAT
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1½ pounds of flank steak
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
HOW TO PREP
Place the flank steak between 2 sheets of
plastic wrap and beat it into an even thickness
with a meat mallet or an empty wine bottle.
(Do not beat it to death.) Salt and pepper the
meat. Heat olive oil in an oven-safe pot.
Spread breadcrumb mixture over meat. Place 2
hardboiled eggs on the short axis of the meat.
Lay 2 carrot halves, one on each side of the eggs.
Begin rolling the meat, rolling the short end,
jellyroll fashion. When about halfway rolled,
add another piece of carrot. Right before the
last roll, add the last carrot.
Using kitchen twine, tie the roll snugly. Then
brown on all sides in the hot oil, about 4 to 6
minutes on all sides. Remove from pan and
set aside.
FOR THE SAUCE
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
1 anchovy filet
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1 carrot, grated
Grated zest of one lemon
Grated zest of one orange
2 cups tomato sauce — homemade is best
1 cup red wine
Prepared pasta
Grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly chopped parsley
HOW TO PREP
Dissolve the anchovy in the hot oil, stirring up
the bits of browned meat in the pan. Add the
garlic and onion. Cook until translucent, about
7 minutes. Add the celery, carrot and zests.
Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
Add 2 cups of your favorite tomato sauce
and 1 cup red wine. Stir well and cook until
it all begins to simmer. Add the bruccialuna
and any juices that have accumulated on the
plate. Cook about 10 minutes.
Place the covered pot into a 325˚F oven for
about an hour. About 30 minutes into the
cooking, turn the roll. Return to the oven.
After the hour, uncover the roll and cook for
another 30 minutes.
Toss the pasta with sauce to cover lightly.
Place on a platter. Place the roll on top of
the pasta. Sprinkle with cheese and fresh
chopped parsley. Serve immediately.
Serves 4 to 6
I came to understand that we would be rolling
up this meat, and slicing it for serving, so the
cross-section had to look really appealing
on the plate and on the platter. This meant
hard-boiled eggs, strips of carrots and
sometimes basic leaves placed in a manner
that would make an interesting pattern after
the bruccialuna was cooked. We would roll
up the meat and then tie it with string. Nana
would salt and pepper the outside, then brown
it in olive oil in a heavy pot.
After it was browned in olive oil she would
put the roll on a plate. We would take
tomato sauce from the freezer where there
was always an ample supply. Nana’s tomato
sauce was always made in huge batches and
then frozen in more manageable portions,
ready for a quick meal or for something for
Sunday dinner, like bruccialuna.
To deepen the flavor of the sauce, in the
pot that had the olive oil in it, now with the
goodness of the browned meat sticking to the
bottom of the pan, Nana added an anchovy
that she melted into the oil.Then she would
add chopped onions, a bit of chopped celery,
a grated carrot, the zest of half of a lemon
and the zest of an orange. Then she added
the tomato sauce. After it was simmering she
would add the browned bruccialuna. I would
watch the tomato sauce just cover the roll.
Then it cooked down, getting thicker, until
the bruccialuna was exposed in the pot.
There was always pasta to accompany this
lovely roll. A bit of sauce was tossed with
the pasta and placed on the big platter.
On top of the pasta went the bruccialuna.
Then it was sprinkled with cheese and then
sprinkled with chopped fresh parsley before
being set on the table. It was carried in to
appropriate “ahs.”We all knew that we had
to loudly appreciate the dish. It was sliced
and dug in and there was silence.
“New Orleanians seem to agree never to spell broo-sha-loh-nee the same way twice,
and certainly never to spell it like it sounds or to pronounce it the way it looks. In her
cookbook, Marie Tusa of Central Grocery spells it bracioline and suggests making it with
veal sirloin tip roast. On his website, John Folse spells it bruccialone and calls for pork
loin. At Mandina’s it’s veal bruccialone and stuffed with spinach and egg as a Thursday
special. It’s broccolini at Rocky & Carlo’s ...”
—Sara Roahen, Gumbo Tales, Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table
Available at local bookstores and online.
photo courtesy
www.thebrooklynragazza.blogspot