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beef olives (bragioli)

Recipe by
Vicki Butts (lazyme)
Grapeview, WA

Bragioli is often called beef olives although the dish has no olives in it all. The olive refers to the beef slice but sometimes people use it as a name for the whole dish. Bragioli is the most famous example of Maltese cuisine and is the national dish.

yield 12 serving(s)
prep time 20 Min
cook time 1 Hr 45 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For beef olives (bragioli)

  • 2 1/4 lb
    topside of beef, cut into 12 thin slices
  • 2
    onions
  • 1
    carrot
  • 5 slice
    crustless white bread, stale
  • 3
    hard boiled eggs, sliced
  • 6 slice
    bacon
  • bunch parsley, chopped
  • 2 clove
    garlic
  • 2
    bay leaves
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2
    glass red wine, for braising (up to 1 glass wine)

How To Make beef olives (bragioli)

  • 1
    Preheat oven to 350F.
  • 2
    Beat each slice of meat flat with a kitchen mallet or fleischklobber and spread them out on your work surface.
  • 3
    Grind the bread to crumbs.
  • 4
    Prepare a stuffing by mixing the crumbs with the chopped bacon, garlic, parsley and seasoning. (Not the bay leaves; those come in later.)
  • 5
    Heap a tablespoon or two of the stuffing onto each beef slice, and top with a slice or segment of hard boiled egg.
  • 6
    Roll the meat slices lengthwise over the stuffing, and tie up with thread, or fasten together with wooden toothpicks.
  • 7
    Pour some oil or melt some lard in a large pan, and brown the beef olives all over in this, together with the bay leaves.
  • 8
    Transfer the browned bragoli to a large casserole dish.
  • 9
    In the same oil or fat, dry the sliced onion and carrot. Pour the wine over the frying onions, let it bubble, and then pour this sauce over the bragioli in the casserole.
  • 10
    Stew very gently for 1 1/2 hours. (You may have to add a little more wine, stock or water to top up the braising liquid, but don't add too much: otherwise the bragioli will not braise correctly.
  • 11
    When the bragioli are ready, remove the thread or toothpicks and serve with peas and mashed potatoes, spooning the sauce over.

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