Delizioso!

For a few months now, I have been telling my mom that we should make Braciole (pronounced "bra'zhul"), which is a delizioso Italian dish. When my brother called my mom from five hours away and said he wanted Braciole, that did the magic trick and as crazy as it sounds, it became our plan to make a wonderful Italian feast... the day after Thanksgiving. Suddenly the thought of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and all the Thanksgiving goodness got shoved to the back of my mind!

My dad's aunts (the Italian side of the family) came out to visit a few years back and passed on some of the tricks and recipes to my mom for some of the amazing dishes that my dad's side of the family would make. If you didn't know my mom and you had a bite of one of these Italian dishes, you'd probably never guess that she ISN'T Italian. If you ever have the chance to join in on one of the oh so common cooking/eating parties at the Angelastro house, you're lucky!

Okay, okay... I'll get to the good part of all of this. Pictures of all the goodness!

 My mom ground up a mixture of fresh meats to create these round little masterpieces:

 The meatballs have fresh parsley, bread crumbs, spices and of course, garlic!

 While the meatballs were baking, the sauce was being created. After my dad's aunts came for their visit and spent a week cooking in my mom's kitchen, they decided she needed a new addition for her kitchen - They sent her a ginormous pot! This pot fits enough sauce for a small army of hungry guests, which is usually what happens when people find out my mom is cooking.

 The sauce is best when started early in the morning (or even the night before) and simmers all day long. 

When the meatballs are done baking, those get added to the simmering sauce. 

 Oh the smells! It could literally be smelt from the sidewalk outside of my parents house.

Now for the star of the show.... Braciole! 

Braciole is thin slices of beef (we used flank steak), filled with a mixture of parmesan, parsley, garlic (of course!), bread crumbs and pepper then rolled up and tied up with cooking string or held closed with a toothpick.

 

Some good friends came over to enjoy the flavors and ended up getting to do some hands on learning. 

Even Little Miss Hannah, who is 4, helped with the rolling!

The Braciole is then either baked or pan fried in it's own juice or a little bit of olive oil. We chose the baking method this time since we were making so many.

Once cooked, just like the meatballs, they were added to the simmering pot of sauce.

The best part of cooking everything... the taste testing through out the process! (And the company.) It's like appetizers and the entree all in one. Even better with a nice glass of red wine as your assistant :)

One of our friends, Elsa, brought a great addition... fresh Italian cookies from a small local place, Italia Panetteria and Deli. Yumm!

Are you drooling yet?!