If you have some cheap cuts of beef steak and are short on some inspiration to make them tender and tasty, then this is the Maltese recipe for you!
When we had fresh meat my mum would always make this for my dad but I don’t remember. The last time I had these was in Malta when my cousin made them for myself and Rob. To me it was the first time I had tried them, but obviously I was mistaken.
There are so many slightly different variations but you can alter yours to suit you. My mum made hers slightly different in that she added spring onion into her mixture that she wrapped inside her steaks. I have seen grated cheese added, olives, capers and veal mince. I added celery to my sauce too and I haven’t noticed that done but I had it in the fridge and knew it would go nicely. My friend mentioned this afternoon that she had an Italian recipe similar to what I was talking to her about and it looks like they call their bragoli stuffed beef braciole. I actually was also planning on putting peas into my dish in the last 45 minutes of cooking but I forgot. Oops, next time.
I served my bragoli with mashed potato and steamed green beans.
- 2 small hard boiled eggs diced
- 4 bacon rashers
- 4 beef steaks battered with a meat tenderiser or rolling pin
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 bunch of parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
- Salt and Pepper
- Olive oil for frying
- Toothpicks
- 4 bayleaves
- 2 onions diced
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 stick of celery diced
- 1 small glass of red wine
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 cup peas
- Hard boil the eggs and set aside. Once cooled dice.
- Slightly fry your bacon for 2 minutes and chop.
- Tenderise your steaks.
- In a bowl mix your eggs, bacon, garlic, parsley and breadcrumbs.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Get your mixture and place some of it onto your meat.
- Wrap your meat around the mixture by rolling the meat to make a parcel and fasten with toothpicks.
- In a casserole dish add some oil and add the bay leaves.
- Over a medium heat lightly brown your bragoli and set aside.
- In the same dish fry the onion for 5 minutes.
- Add the carrots and celery, and fry for a further 10 minutes.
- Add the wine and tomatoes, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and cook for a further 10 minutes.
- On top of the sauce add your bragoli.
- Simmer on a stove top for 1 hour and 30 minutes.
- When there is 30- minutes remaining add in the peas.
The mixture.
Rolling up the tenderised steaks around the mixture (you can also spread the mixture all over the steaks and then roll).
Toothpicked and ready to simmer.