It’s summer time. All people think about BBQ dreaming of perfect sausages & steaks – or whatever. Also substantial or less substantials salads are in vogue. Nobody thinks about a roast … in a kitchen … needing long hours …
However, I bought a beef package (100% organic) processed from happy cows somewhere in Bavaria weeks ago. All portions went straight in our freezer. Amongst others there were beef roulades which hang around since then. So I decided to do roulades for the weekend … no classic German style roulades, but w/ a Mediterranean touch.
The most delicious part of roulades is the filling. I’m sure nobody will disagree. So the filling has to combine the Mediterranean flavors – I imagined.
At 1st I scanned my kitchen drawers for my roulade pins because w/o pins there wouldn’t be any roulades. (I’ll have to admit that I’m always short in butcher’s string … when trying to stock up it seems always sold out.) However, I planned to do 2 roulades & I need 2 pins per roulade.
I thought about the Mediterranean touch – how to create it …
So the next step: are there any ingredients I’d need which aren’t available in my pantry or fridge? I didn’t find any roadblock!
What do we need for the roulades – i. e. the filling?
It’s not so sophisticated:
- spring onions
- thinly sliced bacon (I had Italian bacon.)
- dried tomatoes w/ capers in olive oil
- French sweet mustard & Dijon mustard
… & (very important even if not in the photo!):
- dried Herbs of Provence.
I started w/ chopping the spring onions, adding sweet mustard & dried Herbs of Provence. Added some salt & pepper to taste.
When rolling out the beef roulades I noticed that they were not equal in size. That’s life!
I distributed the Dijon mustard evenly all over the roulades. On top the thinly sliced bacon – you need not chopping the bacon!
I placed some dried tomatoes w/o squeezing all the olive oil & filled it up generously w/ the spring onion mess.
Now the crucial part of the preparation starts: forming the roulade & fixing it.
The filling is delicious, but resist to overdoing. The roulades will be rolled up – it’s ok if some filling spills, but only a little bit. The roulades shall be compact & happy to be fixed w/ 2 pins. Too much filling … no!
In a frying pan w/ some olive oil I started frying the roulades from all sides until nicely brown. This will take about 15 min.
In the meantime we’ll prepare the starter set for the sauce.
When stating that the filling of roulades is the most delicious part of the whole roast affair … well never underestimate the sauce of roulades!
So we need:
- carrots
- onions
- celeriac
- garlic
- bay leaves
- rosemary.
Chop roughly the vegetables & the garlic.
Take the nicely brown roulades out of the frying pan, set aside & dump the vegetables & the herbs into the pan. Add salt & pepper. Start frying for about 10-15 min.
Careful: the vegetables shall not get burnt!
For the sauce we also have to add:
- beef stock
- red wine
- tomato purée
- sugar or sugar syrup or honey. (I had sugar syrup.)
Pour everything into the frying pan w/ the vegetables & mix well. Bring it to a boil – then dump the roulades in the liquid.
Now we are almost finished!
Put a fitting lid on the frying pan & reduce the heat – enough heat for a gentle simmering of the liquid.
For the next 2 hours or 2,5 hours (or even 3 hours!): just let it work on its own.
The roulades are ready when they are soft. Make the famous test w/ a wooden pin … The pin shall go smoothly into the roulade!
Discard the bay leaves & the rosemary …
… & grab your handheld electric blender … (If your frying pan is as low as mine: Pour the mess into a small pot beforehand!)
After the blending session there is a fine smooth sauce which doesn’t need any thickening actions. Only: add some salt & pepper to taste.
… & the roulades: soft & crumbly, full of flavor, juicy, a little garlicky … you smell the tomatoes, the rosemary, the red wine … you experience the south!
My better half & I simply cooked some pasta & made a deep dive into the mix of roulade, sauce & pasta.
Enjoy!
- 2 beef roulades (about 350 g)
- 50 g dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 4 slices Italian bacon (about 40 g)
- 2 tsp sweet French mustard
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 4 spring onions
- 1 tsp dried Herbs of Provence
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 onion
- 2 carrots
- 100 g celeriac
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 400 ml beef stock
- 400 ml red wine
- 140 g tomato purée (2 small cans)
- 1-2 tbsp sugar or sugar syrup or honey
- salt & pepper to taste
- handheld electric blender
- Chop the spring onions, mix w/ the Herbs of Provence & the sweet mustard. Add some salt & pepper to taste.
- Place the beef roulades on a plate or board large enough.
- Add the Dijon mustard & distribute evenly all over the roulades.
- Add the bacon & the dried tomatoes.
- Finally add the spring onion mess.
- Roll up the roulades & fix w/ pins or butcher's string.
- Put the roulades in a frying pan w/ some olive oil & start frying. Turn the roulades from time to time. This shall take about 15 min max. until the roulades are nicely brown.
- In the meantime: clean, trim & chop the carrots, the onion & the celeriac.
- Put the roulades on a plate & continue w/ frying the vegetables in olive oil for about 10-15 min.
- Add the bay leaves, the roughly chopped cloves of garlic & the rosemary – and some salt & pepper to taste.
- Add the stock, the red wine & the tomato purée as well as the sugar (resp. sugar syrup or honey).
- As soon as all is combined dump the roulades in the mess & close the frying pan w/ a fitting lid.
- Braise for about 2,5 – 3 hours.
- Save the roulades which should be very soft now & remove the pins resp. the butcher's string. Discard the bay leaves & the rosemary twigs.
- Smooth the sauce w/ a handheld electric blender. Add some salt & pepper to taste.
- Ready for serving.
