Italian Beef Braciole, Braciole al Sugo Pugliesi

Italian Beef Braciole in a rich, slowly simmered tomato sauce. This southern Italian dish is comforting and good, made with thin slices of beef stuffed with prosciutto, pecorino, garlic, and herbs. solid served as a traditional Italian Sunday lunch.

Quick recipe snapshot

• Authentic southern Italian recipe.
• A traditional Italian Sunday lunch that's hearty, comforting and full of flavour.
• Made with simple ingredients and easy to adapt.
• We show you how to serve traditional braciole as both a Primo (first course with pasta) and a Secondo (main course).

Italian Beef Braciole, also known as involtini (rolled stuffed meat) is such a homely and comforting meal suited to a lazy Sunday afternoon feast with the family.

This version, in particular, is traditionally served in Puglia, southern Italy although there are so many filling options you could try.

And don't worry, it's also not an overly complicated dish to make either. A sharp knife (or your butcher) will ensure that the beef is cut into nice, thin slices ready to be stuffed.

Serve it with your choice of sides, such as Italian Roast PotatoesSauteed Broccolini or Peas and Pancetta.

Ingredient notes and substitutions

• Top or bottom round beef roast – Also known as silverside. You could use sirloin, flank steak, or if you want to skip using beef, you could use pork or veal.
• Pecorino cheese – you can use Pecorino Romano or Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Fresh basil – you could also use fresh parsley
• Slices of prosciutto – this adds so much flavour to the meat and sauce. As an alternative, you could use slices of good-quality ham.
• Garlic – fresh garlic is a must; don't use ground.
• Passata (also known as tomato puree in the US) – We love using passata because it gives a rich and in-depth sauce without a lot of cooking, but you could use canned plum tomatoes instead.

Visual walk-through of the recipe

See our step-by-step photos below to give you a visual representation of the recipe. The full written recipe can be found in the recipe card below.

Cut the beef into ¼ inch (1/2 cm) thick slices. Pound them to half the thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin (photos 1 & 2).

Sprinkle the inside of each slice of beef with a little salt and pepper then lay a slice of prosciutto on top. Sprinkle over a small amount of garlic, parsley and place a slice of pecorino in the middle (photo 3).

Roll up the slice of beef and secure each end with a toothpick, repeat with all slices of beef (photos 4 & 5).

Heat the olive oil in a large pot and brown the braciole on all sides. Once browned add the strained tomatoes (passata) and stir to combine. Cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low, simmer slowly for 2 hours (photos 6-10).

Once the braciole are cooked add the fresh basil to the sauce and stir to combine, serve.

How to serve Braciole the Italian way

The traditional way to serve beef braciole is to first toss a little tomato sauce with cooked pasta and serve that as a first course. The portion should be small and not your average main-sized portion (photos 11 & 12 show how some of the sauce can be used to toss with pasta).

The braciole are then served with a little remaining sauce with some sides such as sauteed green veggies, beans, grilled vegetables or roasted potatoes.

We love serving braciole this way because the starter and main course are all prepared in one pot, and while it cook,s you can prepare your sides.

It's such a good, hearty and rustic home-cooked meal that fills your home with the most good smell and brings the whole family together.

Filling options

The great thing about this recipe is that it's versatile and you can stuff the braciole with whatever you like.

In Napoli, the braciole are traditionally stuffed with pine nuts and raisins (no prosciutto) whereas this version is often found in Puglia.

You can get creative and choose your own fillings but one top tip to bear in mind is that less is more, don't go overboard and don't overcomplicate it.

Recipe tips

Use toothpicks! – toothpicks help secure the meat in place and stop the filling from falling out during cooking.

Prepare in advance – you can stuff the braciole and store them in the fridge before cooking or you can cook the whole dish and store it in the fridge until you're ready to re-heat and serve.

Leftovers and storage – Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for around 3 days or can be frozen in suitable containers. After freezing, thaw the braciole completely, then reheat until piping hot all the way through.

More Italian dinner recipes you might like

• Lasagne al Forno (beef lasagna)
• Ossobuco Milanese (Braised Veal Shanks)
• Steak Pizzaiola
• Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
• Florentine Steak (Bistecca alla Fiorentina)

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

• 1.3 lbs top or bottom round beef roast (can also use sirloin or silverside (600g))
• 8-10 slices prosciutto
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley (finely chopped)
• 8-10 slices of pecorino cheese
• 3 cups passata (pureed tomatoes) ((700g))
• 1 tbsp fresh basil (chopped)
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Equipment

• toothpicks
• Meat mallet or rolling pin
• Baking parchment

Method

1. Cut the beef into ¼ inch (1/2 cm) thick slices (make sure to cut the meat against the grain). Pound them to half the thickness with a meat mallet or rolling pin.

2. Sprinkle the inside of each slice of beef with a little salt and pepper then lay a slice of prosciutto on top.

3. Sprinkle over a small amount of garlic, parsley and place a slice of pecorino in the middle. Roll up the slice of beef and secure each end with a toothpick.

4. Heat the olive oil in a large pot and brown the braciole on all sides. Once browned add the passata and stir to combine (make sure the braciole are covered). Cover with a lid and turn the heat down to low, simmer slowly for 2 hours.

5. Once the braciole are cooked add the fresh basil to the sauce and stir to combine, serve.

How to serve it traditionally

1. Once cooked remove the beef braciole and set aside or keep warm on a plate. Add the fresh basil to the sauce and serve the sauce with freshly cooked and drained pasta then serve the beef braciole as a second course with a little reserved tomato sauce and your sides of choice.

Kitchen notes

Leftovers & freezing leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days and can be reheated as needed. Alternatively, you can freeze leftovers in suitable containers, then thaw completely before reheating.