Did you ever watch the show “Everyone Loves Raymond”? This is the dish that Deborah made that Frank loved so much (and made Marie so angry). And it is really very good. Beef steak, pounded thin, wrapped around a delicious Italian stuffing, browned, and then braised in red wine and topped with marinara.
Soak the raisins in red wine for at least 2 hours prior.
Pound the steak to ¼” thick, and cut into 6-8 long cutlets.
Coarse chop and blend the stuffing ingredients, you can use a little oil to bind it together.
Lightly oil and then season the cutlets with salt & pepper, and lay a prosciutto and a cheese slice on each cutlet (see pictures on the next page)
Apply a couple of tablespoons of the filling in an even layer on top of each cutlet.
Roll the cutlet up very tightly, starting with a narrower end and rolling to the wider end. Secure with butcher’s twine, 3-4 times.
Place the braciola, seam side down in a skillet of hot oil to quickly seal the seam. Then brown the rest of the outside. You don’t want to cook them here, just brown them. (If you want to work ahead and finish these the next day you can stop at this point and refrigerate the braciole.)
Deglaze the skillet with a cup of wine – I like to deglaze twice, to keep the pan from getting too dark as this will add a burnt taste to the sauce.
Place the braciole in a Dutch oven or deep casserole dish; add the wine from the skillet and then add marinara over the top until all of the braciola are covered. Cover and simmer for 3-4 hours at 225o.
Serve the Braciole with the sauce, parmigiana and some pasta or risotto.
