BRACIOLONE DI MAIALE BRASATO

IN SICILY, Braciolone (in dialect pronounced broo-zha-LOO-nee) is normally made with beef (at least that's how my grandmother and mother always made it). Italian cooking being what it is, never discriminates a good cut of meat and I certainly didn't want to pass up an opportunity to stuff, roll and truss a butterflied piece of pork. In today's markets, we find such lean pork that you are almost forced to do something with it that will bring out the flavor of the meat while enhancing the overall dish - a little fat would be nice! Even so, I thought that Braciolone would be ideal for this and it makes no difference here if it were pork or veal or beef. I also had certain ingredients in the house that had to be used, or else. 

Bracioli of any kind are not impossible to make, but it does take some skill and the trussing part is definitely an acquired talent which takes practice. But before we start trussing, let's talk about stuffing. This is only one of any number of variations on stuffing. Sometimes Bracioli have a hard boiled egg inside, sometimes another cut of meat or a sausage. In this case, I am using only greens, garlic, herbs and apricots with a very small amount of toasted bread crumbs. Grated cheese, raisins, currants, even apples or finely diced green peppers are all options as well. Nuts (most commonly, pignoli) can be used as well if it tickles your fancy.

For the stuffing:

1 bunch arugula, bathed in a sinkful of water and rinsed completely free of any sand

1 small onion, minced

5 cloves garlic coarsely chopped

12 dried apricots, coarsely chopped

1 or 2 handfuls of toasted bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs. chopped fresh thyme

5 leaves chopped sage

3 tsp. dried rosemary

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

5 tbs. chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Olive oil

1 tsp. whole fennel seeds (reserved for later - see below)

Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed cast iron skillet. Add the onion and the garlic and saute until translucent. Add the arugula and sprinkle some water from your hand into the pan and stir until the arugula is completely wilted and starts to form a dense mass. Continue to cook until all liquid is evaporated and turn off the heat. Add the nutmeg, apricots, the herbs and the bread crumbs and stir over a very low flame for about 5 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let rest. After 5 minutes, taste for seasoning and correct with salt and pepper if necessary. Let cool completely before proceeding with recipe.

1 5 lb. pork tenderloin or sirloin muscle (boned and butterflied)

Spread out the meat on a wooden board large enough to hold the entire length of the roast. It should roughly measure about 14 inches long. Take a heavy meat tenderizer and pound the meat to flatten it out and widen the roast for stuffing. You don't have to try to get it too thin (it's not scallopini after all), just a bit more expanded from its original size.

Spread the stuffing on top and evenly distribute it so it covers the entire surface of the meat with a 1/4 inch border all around. When you are ready to roll and tie, take the fennel seeds and sprinkle them all over the top of the stuffing.

As carefully as you can, roll up the roast while always keeping a firm hand on the inside fold to ensure that all the stuffing remains on the meat. Once the meat is rolled up, let it sit with the outer part of the edge facing down so it doesn't unroll. 

Take a long piece of kitchen twine (about 2 ft.) and starting at one end, tie the string around the meat. Take the string and pull it along the top of the roast about an inch or so and, holding the twine with your thumb on the inside loop, work the twine around the bottom of the roast, bringing it back up around to the top. Interlace the twine over and then under the piece you were holding and pull to make a secure ring around the roast. Continue in this fashion until you've gone the entire length of the roast and then change directions and make one circle the entire length of the roast, bring it around and tie it up to secure the ends and finish the trussing.

At this point, you can rest! That is, if you want to do that. I prefer making this the night before and letting it sit in the fridge overnight so the flavors mingle. In either case salt and pepper the outside of the roast and if cooking the next day, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Take the roast out of the fridge a good hour before cooking. 

Heat some olive oil in a very large pot (with cover). Sear the roast on all sides until browned and remove from the pot. Discard the oil (it will have smoked) and clean out the pot. 

4 tbs. olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 carrots, cut lenghwise and quartered 

3 stalks celery, chopped

5 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

Chopped fennel stalks and fronds

1 fennel bulb, trimmed of any tough outer leaves and halved 

4 cloves inserted into round parts of the fennel

1/2 cup vermouth or 1/4 cup white wine

1 can chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup stock (chicken will do, but if you have pork it will be even better)*

Chopped herbs:

4 tbs. parsley

2 tsp.rosemary

5 sage leaves

1 tsp. thyme

a handful of fresh basil

Heat the olive oil and saute the fennel bulbs. Let them brown  on each of the flat sides, making sure that the cloves on the round outside leaf isn't disturbed. Add the chopped vegetables and saute until all of they have absorbed the oil and wilted somewhat. Continue to cook and add the vermouth or white wine and let reduce by half. 

Add all of the herbs, the tomatoes and the stock. You can salt to taste, but I cheat and use a chicken bouillon cube. It works. If it's good enough for Simon Hopkinson, it's good enough for me.

Stir often so nothing sticks to the bottom and bring to the boil. 

Add the roast and situate it so the fennel bulbs will fit easily at either end. Bring to the boil once more and lower the heat to the barest simmer and cover. Cook for 4 hours. Check occasionally and stir and turn the roast every once in a while during the braising to ensure even cooking.

When the roast is done remove from the pot and let rest covered with an aluminum tent. At this point you can refrigerate everything and reheat the next day**

To the sauce, add 1/2 cup barley and bring to a boil and then lower heat and cover the pot. Simmer for 45 minutes.

Untie the roast and slice and place on top of the barley and ladle some of the sauce on top and serve.

Buon appetito!

*Unless I use consomme or clarified stock, all the stocks I use are unsalted so please allow for salting at some point for taste. I'm not saying one should use a lot of it, but this wasn't meant to be a saltless recipe. And as you see, I use bouillon at one point in place of salt for added flavor.

** Cutting the braciole when cold is much easier and it is less likely to fall apart than when served immediately after cooking. It also tastes better the next day.