Braciole

I have been working on a braciole recipe for quite a few years.  It began with a party we were having for my dad's 50th birthday a few years back.  His birthday is in December and we were going to be away for Christmas so my mom decided to have a big 50th birthday/early Christmas dinner with our extended family.  We decided to make it Italian themed but wanted to do something different, not just the same old lasagna, sausage and peppers, etc.  So I came up with the idea of making braciole.  I scoured the internet and looked at a bunch of different recipes and found them so varied that I just decided to put what I like into mine and not follow a recipe.  We had a couple of people over for dinner on Sunday and I knew I wanted to cook something that I could just leave in the pot and not have to worry about it.  So I made a big pot of sauce and braciole.  It was so good.  There are still leftovers that I am savoring.

Braciole
From Colleen's Kitchen Therapy

Ingredients:
1 flank steak, approximately 1.5 - 2 lbs, pounded to 1/4 inch thick
Salt
Black pepper
5 oz. fresh spinach
Olive oil
1 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Kitchen Twine
3 quarts of your favorite tomato sauce

Directions
In a skillet over medium-high heat, saute spinach with olive oil, nutmeg and red pepper flakes.  Meanwhile, season pounded flank steak on both sides with salt and pepper.  Place on a hard, flat surface.  Put spinach on top of flank steak, leaving a 1 inch border free of spinach on all sides.  Layer bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese on top of spinach.  Roll flank steak up using kitchen twine to hold it together.  Heat 1tbsp. olive oil in a pan on medium-high heat.  Sear rolled flank steak on all sides, about 2 minutes each side.

Place seared flank steak in a large dutch oven with the tomato sauce.  Cook on low, stirring occasionally for at least 3 hours, preferable 4-5 hours.  Remove braciole from sauce and place on a cutting board.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Cut off kitchen twine and slice into thin slices (I find an electric knife works best for this).  Serve with your favorite pasta and sauce the braciole was cooked in.