Meat
Cheesy Breaded Meat Rolls
In Messina, a city in northeastern Sicily just opposite Reggio Calabria on the mainland, the word braciola denotes a meat roll; in other parts of Italy, they are called involtini. In the Messina version, thinly pounded meat is breaded, wrapped around a piece of locally produced cheese such as scamorza or tuma, then grilled until the meat is browned and the cheese is gooey and melted. Some butchers in Messina sell premade braciole filled with Galbani cheese, Italy’s answer to Kraft Singles and the furthest thing from a natural formaggio I have ever encountered—but damn, is this processed cheese good. Use scamorza if you can get it, but you don’t really need quality stuff here, just something meltable.
Lay the pieces of beef (1 ½ lb) flat on your work surface and season with salt on both sides.
Combine the bread crumbs (1 ½ cups), Parmigiano-Reggiano (½ cup), and oregano (2 tsp) on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Season with salt. Pour the olive oil (½ cup) into a shallow bowl.
Working with one piece at a time, dip the meat first in olive oil, allowing the excess to drip off, then coat in the bread crumb mixture.
Place a piece of cheese (8 oz) in the middle of the breaded meat, then roll the meat around the cheese to form a medium-tight roll. (You can use a toothpick to keep the roll closed, but it will seal itself just as well if you cook it seam-side down first.) Repeat with the remaining meat. Roll in any remaining bread crumbs.
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and wipe it with a paper towel dipped in olive oil.
Place the meat rolls in the pan, seam-side down, and cook, turning once, until the meat is cooked through and the cheese has melted, 10 minutes.
Serve.
You can cook the braciole on an outdoor grill instead. Heat a grill to 425 °F and cook as instructed on the right, but roll the braciole in additional olive oil before putting them on the grill.
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