Gli Involtini Siciliani (Sicilian Stuffed Meat Rolls)

Preparation time: 30 mins Cooking time: 30 mins Medium Serves: 4

Description

Involtini are a staple of the Sicilian diet. Pork, veal or thin steak can be used to make the involtini or the vegetarian option; they can be roasted, grilled, barbecued or fried.

Ingredients

4 large veal escalopes or fillets (or steak or pork)
2 cups of fine bread-crumbs (grate yesterdays stale baguette or buy some quality breadcrumbs)
1 cup of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, finely grated
2 tbsp of raisins
2 tbsp of pine nuts
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 egg
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Half a glass of dry white wine (wine glass)

Method

For the best results your meat will need to be just half a centimetre in thickness. If you can’t get escalopes then fillets will do, but you will need to ‘beat’ them to the required thickness. Do this by placing the fillets, one at a time, into a freezer bag then bash the meat gently with a rolling pin until the desired thickness is achieved. Cut and trim the meat into rectangles of about 4 by 10 cm.

For the stuffing: Add the bread-crumbs, grated cheese, pine nuts, raisins, chopped parsley and the chilli flakes to a large bowl. In a separate bowl beat together the minced garlic, olive oil and egg. Stir this into the seasoned bread-crumbs to form a dry but homogenous mass. Spread a thin quantity of the stuffing onto each slice of meat and roll them up tightly, sticking a couple of toothpicks lightly through the top to secure.

To roast: Place the involtini into a roasting dish, together with some large slices of onion, and drizzle with a little olive oil. Put into a hot oven at 190°C and cook for about 15 minutes, remove from the heat and drizzle over the wine. Cook for another 10 minutes until nicely browned. Remove the toothpicks and serve the involti with Sicilian style roast potatoes and a mixed salad. Recipe for potatoes coming soon.