How to be a Good Italian Housewife: Bracciole

Part of being a good mom is taking care of all of your children.  That includes the big one too, aka husband.  My husband, Tony, is a first generation Italian (very different from an Italian-American).  His parents met in Napoli; and his father brought his wife and daughter over to America once he got settled.  They lived in an Italian immigrant community, spoke their own language and ate their own food.  No woman in his family ever paid a bill, and no man in his family ever married a woman who wasn't Italian (Well, except for Tony.  Yes, I muddied the gene pool).  This is how my husband grew up.  He didn't speak English until he was in kindergarten.  He didn't have a pot roast until he was 30, and I cooked one for dinner.

I am not Italian, and had very little exposure to anything Italian...Trust me Ragu is not Italian.  I've had a lot to live up to.  I've always loved to cook, but I had to learn an entirely new method...make it like they do in Italy.  My regular pantry stock totally changed.  Absolutely no canned, jarred or pre-made anything.  Only Barilla pasta (yes, they actually do use that in Italy, I've seen Tony's aunt's pantry) and lots of it.  I also needed to learn how to cook like a little old Italian lady that loved to watch American Soap Operas.  Well, at least I love General Hospital.  Tony's Grandmom also came over to America with his father.  Though she wasn't doing nearly as much cooking when I got to know her, she gave me some instruction.  After some practice I even cooked for her and she liked it...And trust me, she most certainly wasn't the type of person to fib about what she enjoyed and what she didn't.  One thing that I've learned is that no two Italian women make their food the same, even if they learned from the same person.  It's acceptable and even expected to make it your own.  I've logged a lot of hours in the kitchen, some even barefoot and pregnant, perfecting "recipes" (I use "" because there are no real measurements) and making my Sunday dinners something that Grandmom would be proud of.  So, this little Irish girl is about to do the unthinkable and share her Italian "recipe".  I'm going to give you my approximate measurements and I encourage you to "make it your own".  As far as the sauce goes, I beg of you not to use Ragu...or Prego for that matter!

Bracciole
1 clove of garlic, minced to the point of almost being a paste
a handful of fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
4 or 5 basil leaves, finely chopped
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped (both yolk and white)
a handful of freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (Grandmom said always use Parmigiano Reggiano when cooking, never Pecorino Romano)
a handful of plain bread crumbs
8 thin rectangular slices of beef, pounded out even thinner
string for tying up the rolls, you can use toothpicks, but the string is real Italian
extra virgin olive oil
your sauce...simple is better, just some pureed san marzano tomatoes will do the trick

• mix together all of the ingredients except the beef and oil, oh and the string
• spread the mixture over the beef, maybe a tablespoon and a half or so, enough that it's covered (you may have extra, you can always freeze it and toss it in your meatballs)
• roll the beef up width wise, so the bracciole look like cigars, and secure them with the string or toothpicks
• coat the bottom of a large pot with the olive oil and heat it to medium high
• quickly brown the bracciole
• add your sauce, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 3 hours

I almost forgot the most important part, the pasta...and make sure it's al dente!  Mushy pasta is almost as unforgivable as store-bought sauce.  Enjoy!