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Grandma Gennaco’s Beef Braciole is a very special dish! This delicious recipe has been in our family for over 100 years.
Today we’re sharing a very special family recipe for Beef Braciole that was passed down to our family from my husband’s grandmother. This recipe originated from her mother, Grandma Gennaco, and it has stood the test of time for over 100 years.
What is Beef Braciole?
To make the beef braciole (pronounced bra’zhul which means ‘slices of beef’), a tender flank steak is pounded or butterflied to an even thickness and then rolled with a flavorful filling of salt pork, garlic, pesto, parsley, prosciutto and Pecorino Romano cheese.
After being cut into smaller pieces and tied with a string to hold them together, the rolls of meat are seared in a pan until browned. Then the beef rolls are placed in tomato sauce to cook through to fork-tender perfection, then sliced and served over pasta.
A Special Sunday Supper
Over the years, this beef braciole was served as a special Sunday meal at my husband’s family gatherings. While dinner was cooking, Jack’s boyhood job was to walk down to the local Italian bakery to get bread for the meal. When he returned, he was so happy to see his grandfather – always dressed in a shirt, tie, and grey cardigan sweater. Jack would run over to greet him because he knew hidden in those sweater pockets were M&M’s or Life Saver candies that Grandpa had hidden in there specifically for Jack to find.
Reader Review
“I come from an Italian family. This is one of the few recipes for braciole that’s for real.” – Larraine
Why You’ll Love Beef Braciole
- This is a truly memorable meal that your dinner guests will remember for a long time.
- The flavors are absolutely amazing – with super tender beef and that salty flavorful filling.
- The braciole can be prepped and rolled ahead of time – then let it cook in the pot.
Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Beef – You’ll want to use flank steak for this recipe. Flank is a very lean, very flavorful cut of beef. Just note that you will need to cook it for a long time for it to become tender enough to eat.
- Salt Pork – Not all beef braciole recipes include salt pork in the filling, but our family recipe does. It adds a distinctive, salty flavor, and a richness that makes this dish truly special.
- Other Filling Ingredients – Fresh garlic cloves, Italian flat leaf parsley, prosciutto (ask for imported, not domestic, if possible), pesto, and Pecorino Romano cheese.
- Italian Tomato Sauce – Made with canned San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, basil, mint, red pepper flakes, bay leaves, and butter. You could simmer the braciole in your favorite jarred sauce if you’d like, but the flavors won’t be quite the same.
- Pasta – (Optional) for serving.
Special Tools Needed
- Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed, deep pan with cover.
- Meat pounder
- Mini food processor
- Butcher’s Twine
- (Optional) Heat Diffuser – to prevent scorching
Chef’s Tip
Click here to learn an easy method to dice salt pork. Note that if your salt pork comes out of the package heavily salted, you should rinse most of the salt off before using it in this recipe.
How do I make Beef Braciole?
- Prepare the flank steak by pounding it to a 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness. If your steak is thick, you can butterfly it first, then pound.
- Make a paste out of the salt pork, garlic, parsley, and olive oil.
- Combine the paste with prosciutto, pesto, and grated cheese to create the filling.
- Season pounded beef with salt and pepper, then spread the filling, leaving one long edge free of any filling.
- Roll the beef, ending with the edge with no filling and seam side facing down.
- Cut the beef roll into six equal pieces, then tie both ends of each piece with butcher’s twine. (See photos in recipe card below.)
- Sear the beef rolls, then set aside.
- Make the sauce in the same Dutch oven you used to sear the beef. Bring to a simmer, then nestle the seared beef into the sauce.
- Simmer gently for an hour and a half, or until the beef is super tender. (If you are serving over pasta, cook it while the braciole simmers.)
- Remove beef from the sauce, then clip off the butchers twine.
- Slice each piece of beef into four slices.
- Enjoy as is, or serve over pasta.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far in advance can I roll the beef braciole? Earlier in the day that you plan to cook and serve the dish. Because of the high salt content in the filling, you won’t want to make it too far ahead – the salt can start to draw out some of the moisture from the beef and other fresh ingredients.
How do I reheat leftovers? You can reheat leftovers right in the Dutch oven, or microwave individual portions.
Can I freeze beef braciole? You can, however, this dish is best freshly made.
This post originally appeared on A Family Feast in January 2013. The post has been updated but the delicious recipe remains the same.
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Grandma Gennaco’s Beef Braciole
Grandma Gennaco’s Beef Braciole is a very special dish! This delicious recipe has been in our family for over 100 years.
Ingredients
For the rolled meat
- One 2 pound flank steak (do not use top or bottom round)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 ounces salt pork, coarsely chopped
- 5 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 3 ounces sliced prosciutto, diced
- 4 tablespoons pesto (use jarred or see here)
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano, grated
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the tomato sauce
- 4 large garlic cloves, sliced
- 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon fresh basil leaves, minced and divided
- 3 tablespoons fresh mint, minced
- 1 teaspoon dry oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 28–ounce cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes such as Cento or Pastene brand)
- 28 ounces of water (rinse cans into one and add to sauce)
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound of your favorite pasta
Instructions
- If you feel comfortable butterflying the thickest part of the flank steak, do that now. If not, cut narrow cross hatch marks on both sides, cover with plastic wrap and pound. Our flank was 8X12 inches and after pounding, was 12X15 inches.
- Sprinkle the top with the salt and pepper.
- In a small food processor, puree salt pork, garlic, parsley and oil to form a thick paste.
- In a medium bowl, mix prosciutto, pesto, Romano and pureed salt pork mixture.
- Spread this all over the flattened flank steak, leaving a one-inch edge on the furthest long side away from you.
- Start rolling the whole long flank into a tight roll, finishing on the open edge away from you, seam side down.
- Cut the long tight roll into four to six even logs, depending on the size of your beef.
- Using butcher’s twine and tie each end of each roll, leaving one string end of each tie long enough to find it after cooking.
- In a large Dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot that has a lid, add the third of a cup of olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, sear the beef rolls for 2-3 minutes per side until nicely browned, about 8-12 minutes.
- Remove the beef to a platter and reduce heat to medium. Remove and discard any filling that may have leaked out and darkened in the pot bottom.
- Add the sliced garlic, ¼ cup of the basil, two tablespoons of the mint, all of the oregano and hot pepper flakes and cook for two minutes, stirring often and starting to scrape up the brown bits from the pan bottom.
- Add the canned tomatoes, water, sugar, salt, pepper and bay leaves and stir and scrape up more of the brown bits from the bottom.
- Bring the sauce to a simmer then nestle the beef logs into the sauce.
- Place a heat diffuser under the pot and place the lid partially over the top.
- Once the sauce has started to bubble, reduce to medium low and set your timer for 90 minutes. Stir twice during the 90 minutes to make sure nothing is sticking.
- Remove the logs to a platter or your cutting board.
- Bring a pot of water to a boil.
- Use a small ladle and remove and discard the fat that floated to the top of the sauce. This is rendered salt pork fat and can be discarded. Also remove and discard the bay leaves.
- Add the butter, remaining basil and remaining mint and stir then remove from heat.
- Salt the pasta water and cook your pasta.
- While pasta is cooking, remove the twine from the rolls then slice each roll into half inch slices.
- To serve, place pasta into serving dishes, top with sauce then add the sliced Braciole.
- Serve with additional Romano or Parmesan cheese.
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I have made this every Christmas for the past three years. It is now a family tradition. The meat comes out so tender with amazing flavor from the salt pork, prosciutto, and herbs. I recommend this to everyone!
Thank you Amy! We love that one of our own family recipes is now one of yours too! 🙂 Happy Holidays and thanks for taking the time to write to us!
Just made and enjoyed your braciole. Absolutely delicious! I think he salt pork and pesto helped intensive the flavors in the sauce. We added a cup of red wine to the sauce to make it a little more complex. We also ended up cooking the dish for 4 hours because the 2 pieces we ate after 2 1/2 hours were too tough (but still tasty). Why do you recommend only using flank steak? I would have thought that top or bottom round would 1) be easier to cut into evenly thin slices and 2) cook down to a softer stewed meat.
Hi Claire – My husband Jack is sitting here next to me as I write this… 🙂 He recommends flank steak for flavor as well as texture. You could use a top of the round roast but after cooking a long time, that cut of beef could end up drying out. (Another reason to use flank!) Hope that helps – we’re glad you enjoyed our recipe!
We hope you enjoy the braciole Viki! Happy New Year!
Made this recipe this past weekend. It is over the top delicious! We have been trying to master the creating of the perfect Braciole and we have done it with this recipe. Amazed by the concept of using salt pork paste and pesto! So creative, so authentic and soooo good. I did cook the beef for an extra 1/2 hour. Just wanted to make sure that the beef was tender, which it was. I noticed that some of the fat rendered out during the last 1/2 hour so this was probably a good thing. I also skimmed the top of the excess fat.
My Italian grandmother would be so proud of this. She passed away when I was 14. I do remember all the meals that she made and was so impressed. No one could do what she did! Your website is the closest to my memories! Thank you for sharing and bringing us all back and now forward to new memorable Italian meals!
I just subscribed to your website!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us Pam – and we’re so happy that you enjoyed the recipe! This recipe is near and dear to our hearts as you might guess – and knowing that it helps you and your family remember and honor your own grandmother makes it even more special! Thanks again – you’ve made our day!
I made this last night. As I said on Facebook, the best use of a flank steak ever. Grazie mille!
Thank you so much! It’s a recipe near and dear to our heart and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Made this for Sunday Supper and it turned out fantastic. Prepared the meat one day ahead without cooking. I used 3 cans of tomato sauce, the big ones, San Marzano and reduced over 3.5 hours. Used Parmesano Romano instead of Pecorino and did not cut the rolls of meat further until serving. Also added a glass of red wine once the meat was browned and let it reduce before adding the tomato. So good. Thank you for your recipe.
Thank you so much for writing to us Emilio! We’re very glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Hello! I found your site around last Christmas, it was my first time hosting Christmas dinner in our new home. My grandmother used to always make braciole for Christmas so I decided that’s what I was going to do. I did make the filling a little different but I want to thank you for having such awesome pictures and instructions! I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to make it it without them 🙂 I served it with parmesan risotto and grilled asparagus, and tiramisu for dessert. My aunts said it would make my italian grandmother proud 😉 I will try this filling next time!
Thank you so much for writing to us Erin! And – we’re thrilled that you AND your aunts enjoyed the recipe! Your menu sounds fantastic too – a perfect Italian meal!
Hi Martha and Jack!
I have just found your site and I must say that I will be hanging out here more than in my own kitchen! Just kidding, but you have some wonderful, amazing recipes here. I would like to ask you about the “flank steak” in this recipe. I am from the “old school” way of doing things although I don’t feel my age! LOL To me, from years way back, “flank” steak was the piece of meat that you scored before cooking. The fairly thin piece of meat that you put stuffing, of sorts, inside, rolled it up and usually baked it. Now, there is another cut of meat that is referred to as “flank,” called London broil. Can you tell me which is the one to use in this recipe? I can’t wait to make this as it looks so delicious. Thank you so much and I will be visiting here often.
Thank you so much Diane! We’re so glad you found our site and hope you enjoy our recipes! For this braciole, you definitely want the flank steak in your first example. London broil sold in the supermarket isn’t always (or usually) the true flank cut of beef you want for this recipe. London Broil is more a method of cooking – and we too have seen beef packages labeled as ‘London Broil’ but it’s a little misleading because it doesn’t tell you specifically which cut of beef you are really buying. My suggestion is to ask your butcher (or the butcher at the grocery store) specifically for flank steak – and hopefully they will be able to point you in the right direction! I hope that helps clarify – but please feel free to message us back if you need further clarification! Thanks again – Martha
There are restaurants in the North End (Boston) that have hard boiled egg in the recipe. I agree that it is probably regional.
Thanks Dawn!
My sister used to make this years ago when she was a newlywed. I never had it before or since an it was awesome! I remember hers having hard boiled eggs in it. Does anyone do this or am I just confused?
Hi Tessa – We haven’t heard of adding hard boiled egg to braciole – but it’s possible that your sister was following a different regional variation that included it! I’ve also read that eggs were sometimes added to sauce (gravy) as a less expensive protein than meat – so perhaps the recipe she followed used egg for that reason as well. Hope that helps! Thanks for writing to us today!