Ironically, I learned about bruscioloni from my mom's mom, Doris Vallette, who was French and Irish. In a way, that's fitting for such a Creole dish. Once or twice, when I was younger, I helped her make it. She used top-round, pounded thin and filled with breadcrumbs, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, and parsley, then sealed with toothpicks. It would be falling apart by the time you pulled it out of the pan, and she served it with angel hair pasta. Years later, I was playing with the dish when I was in culinary school and added spinach to the filling. When I told her this, she called me a little shit.
Doris never had a recipe for bruscioloni, but my version is very much inspired by what she used to make, with the flavors from my Sicilian New Orleanian side of the family. I've experimented a lot over the years, and this is where I've landed. We use beef chuck, and the filling has an entire head of roasted garlic, Italian breadcrumbs, and sliced hard-boiled eggs. For the Creole red gravy, we caramelize peppers and garlic in olive oil, add a touch of tomato paste and raw sugar and caramelize that as well, then throw in a smoked pork hock and canned tomatoes with some fresh basil and let it all simmer. We also sneak in an orange to add a little brightness and acidity.
Chef Michael Gulotta's Bruscioloni
4-6
servings30
minutes2
hours20
minutesIngredients
- For the Red Gravy
1/4 cup 1/4 extra-virgin olive oil
1 1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves 4 garlic, smashed
1/4 cup 1/4 tomato paste
1 tablespoon 1 sugar
1 tablespoon 1 red wine vinegar
Two 28-oz. cnas Two peeled whole tomatoes, crushed
1 1 smoked pork hock
1 large 1 sprig basil
1 1 orange, halved
1 pinch 1 crushed red pepper flakes
1 pinch 1 freshly ground black pepper
- For the Filling
4 4 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
1 head 1 garlic, roasted
1/2 cup 1/2 Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup 1/4 extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup 1/4 finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
10 10 chives, thinly sliced
Kosher salt to taste
1 pinch 1 Aleppo pepper or crushed red pepper flakes
- For the Bruscioloni
2 pound 2 beef chuck flap
1 1 batch of egg filling
1 teaspoon 1 kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 freshly ground black pepper
1 1 batch of red gravy
1/2 cup 1/2 extra-virgin olive oil
Angel hair pasta for serving
Directions
- To Make the Red Gravy
- In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil.
- Add the bell pepper, garlic, tomato paste, and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is deeply caramelized and dark in color.
- Add the red wine vinegar and use your spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add the tomatoes, pork hock, basil, orange, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Increase the heat until it comes to an active simmer, then decrease the heat to low and let simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Shred the meat from the pork hock into the gravy, discarding the bone along with the orange halves.
- To Make the Red Gravy
- Cut the hard-boiled eggs into eighths.
- Add to a bowl and squeeze in the cloves from a head of roasted garlic.
- Gently toss with breadcrumbs, ¼ cup olive oil, Parmesan cheese, chives, Aleppo pepper, and salt until combined.
- Set aside.
- To make the Bruscioloni
- Butterfly the beef chuck flap lengthwise (cut through the center, as you would slice a bagel, but don’t cut all the way through; then, separate the two halves as if you were opening a book).
- Cover the beef with plastic wrap and lightly pound it until it’s about 1 inch thick. Season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper.
- Working parallel with the grain of the meat, spread the egg filling down the length of it, about a third of the way from the bottom (leaving a roughly 2-inch border).
- Carefully roll up the meat, keeping the filling tight.
- Use butcher’s twine to tie it off at 2-inch intervals, trimming any excess twine.
- Season the outside with the remaining salt and pepper.
- In a braising pan or crock pot, heat ½ cup olive oil over medium-high heat just until it starts to smoke.
- Sear the Bruscioloni on all sides, about 2 minutes per side, until they’re all golden brown and caramelized.
- Pour the red gravy into the pan, bring it to a simmer, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cover.
- simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Use tongs to carefully remove the Bruscioloni from the pan.
- Let it rest on your cutting board for a few minutes, then cut into 1-inch slices and serve with angel hair pasta, topped with the gravy from the pan.
- Garnish with freshly grated cheese.
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