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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.)
For the record:
I’ve got more than 4 pins. 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!
So let’s start!
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.
For the record:
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!
Save the roulades on a plate.
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.
