Braġjoli
Beef Olives
Beef Olives, the common English name for Maltese braġjoli, do not actually have any olives in the recipe - though you are free to add some to the sauce if you'd like. Rather, the dish received that name as the beef rolls are supposed to resemble olives. Instead, they look like something far less appetizing. That is a pity, because I quite liked the dish.
I had made Italian braciole, from which this dish surely derives, once before. I was surprised to find it was in 2013, as it felt much more recent. That time, the recipe didn't work out. The sauce was very insipid and the rolls were dry. This Maltese version was actually much better - if equally unattractive. The rolls weren't as dry - though sirloin probably doesn't have enough fat to survive an hour and a half cooking unscathed - and the sauce was quite tasty. I loved the bacon in the filling, which gave the whole thing a smokey flavor that worked very well.
As braġjoli is a popular family dish, there are quite a few variations of it. The filling often includes ground beef, pork or even lamb. Some cooks season it with cumin or coriander. The sauce need not have tomatoes - indeed, the recipe I followed didn't have them - or broth, but I included them to make the sauce more fitting for spaghetti. If I'd had any tomato paste in hand, I'd have added it too for depth of flavor, but it was pretty tasty on its own.
Braġjoli is often served on top of spaghetti, as I did. The sauce didn't work very well for these purposes, unfortunately. It was too liquid and didn't adhere well to the noodles. It might have been better with the tomato paste.
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Beef Olives
Ingredients
- 1 lb thinly sliced top sirloin steaks
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 slices stale white bread
- 4 pancetta or bacon slices, chopped
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
- 2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 cup red wine
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste (optional)
Directions
Using a mallet or tenderizer roller, tenderize the steaks. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
Cut the crust off the bread slices, discard crust and crumble the rest of the bread. Place in a bowl.
Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the chopped bacon and saute until cooked through. Remove and add to the bowl with the bread crumbs. Keep the bacon grease on the saute pan and se aside. Add the parsley, 1 minced garlic clove and season with salt and pepper to the bowl with the breadcrumbs and bacon. Mix well.
Lay a steak on a working surface. Place a heaping tablespoon of the bread crumb filling in the center and spread it throughout the surface. Top with a couple of slices of hard-boiled egg. Close the short sides of the steak onto the filling, and then roll the steaks lengthwise. Secure with toothpicks. Repeat with the rest of the steaks.
Bring the pan with the bacon fat back to a high heat. Add one minced garlic clove. Add the beef rolls and brown on all sides. Transfer beef rolls to a saucepan large enough to fit all the beef rolls in one layer. Add the bay leaves.
Heat the previously used frying pan over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the chopped onions and carrots. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add the remaining minced garlic clove and saute for a minute. Pour the wine over the vegetables and deglaze the pan. Stir in the broth, the diced tomatoes and tomato paste (if using). Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let simmer for a few minutes.
Add the wine sauce to the saucepan with the beef rolls. Place on the stove and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn heat down to low, cover and simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the rolls from the sauce. Remove the toothpicks or kitchen string securing them. Serve rolls with spaghetti or mashed potatoes and the braising sauce.
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Adapted from Ernest Ferrant's recipe in Facebook.
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