Recipes from professional Chef Tallyrand:

• Beef Roulades 'Bresaola' •

This recipe comes after a request from a 'Malachi Fearon' who emailed me looking for a recipe using 'Bresaola'. As often happens, I have suddenly received many requests for similar recipes, tips, etc. This last couple of weeks it has been requests using cured meats and sausages.

Bresaola is an Italian cured beef that originally hails form the Lomabardy district, normally this is sliced paper thin and served as part of an antipasto platter. But also, as in this recipe, can add a wonderful flavour and finish to other dishes. If you cannot get Bresaola, try replacing it with a good Italian style salami . . . it'll be just as good!!

In this dish I have used many flavours and ingredients that just screams . . . ITALY! It may initially seem long winded but, once you have read it through, you will realise just how easy it is to make and with a little organisation not at all time consuming.

As I often do with such dishes, my strong recommendation is that all the ingredient measures I have given here are guidelines only and are best used to suit your own taste. For example:

• The size roulades I make might be slightly smaller than yours, so you might not need quite so much filling
• If you find you do have excess filling, do not waste it, but stir it through the final sauce
• Your braising pan might be larger or smaller than mine and the roulades should be only just covered with the sauce ingredients, so add or reduce the amount of stock as required
  

Beef Roulades 'Bresaola', served with Creamy Mashed Potatoes, Caramelised Shallots and Garlic Cloves

Gremolata

garlic cloves	1	pc
lemon	1	pc
anchovy fillet	1	pc
chopped parsley	1	tbs

Filling

bresaola	1/2	cup
artichoke hearts	1/2	cup
sundried tomatoes	1/4	cup
basil	1/2	cup

Sauce

onions - red	1	pc
chopped tomatoes	1	cup
red wine	200	ml
beef stock	1	lt
olives - kalamata		sq

Method

To make the Gremolata

1. Crush the garlic clove into a paste, finely chop the anchovies, grate the peel from the lemon
2. Combine all the ingredients and set aside - this will be used to finish the dish just prior to serving

To make the Filling

1. Cut the bresaola into thin slices and cut further into thin strips
2. Roughly chop the tinned artichokes
3. Roughly chop the sundried tomatoes
4. Place the basil leaves together, roll into a 'cigar' and finely shred
5. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside

To make the Roulades

1. Place the beef slices between some clean plastic and bat out with a rolling pin or similar until nice and thin - it is best to sprinkle the plastic with water, this prevents the meat from sticking to it
2. Lay the slices of beef onto a clean work surface with the 'width' facing towards you and season with freshly milled pepper only (there will be enough salt from the stuffing and sauce)
3. Split the filling between the beef slices, placing it along the width leaving at least a 1cm gap all around
4. Taking the edge closest to you, roll up
5. Using 4 - 5 tooth picks per roulade, secure each roulade together, placing a toothpick every ½ cm or so. Better to be over cautious and use more than less, this will prevent them unravelling during the cooking process

To complete the final dish

1. Heat some olive oil and butter together in a pan
2. Coat the roulades with a little seasoned flour, and brown on all sides in the butter and oil, remove from pan and place in casserole/braising dish
3. Turn down the heat and add the sliced onions to pan and sweat (cook without colour) for two minutes
4. Add the juice from the lemon and continue cooking until the lemon juice has all but disappeared - this will give you full flavour without the acidity
5. Add the tomato concassé and wine, bring to the boil and simmer until the liquid has reduced by three-quarters
6. Add the olives, pour in the stock, bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes
7. Pour over the roulades, cover with a tight fitting lid or tin foil and braise in the oven (180ºC) until meat is tender; approximately 1 1/2 hours
8. Remove the roulades from the sauce and keep warm in the oven, bring the sauce to a boil and simmer until the sauce is rich and thick
9. Add the gremolata to taste; this will add a definite freshness of flavour and zing to the final sauce
10. Serve with creamy mashed potatoes and caramelised shallots and garlic cloves <click here>

Enjoy and bon appetit . . . . .

Published 01 October 2003