Many Reviewers Say Valerie Bertinelli’s Beef Braciole Captures the Essence of the Classic Italian Dish

Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli’s beef braciole recipe is perfect either for a holiday feast or a leisurely weekend meal. Her recipe calls for lightly pounding or flattening tender beef cuts into cutlets, filling them with a flavorful stuffing, then rolling each one up, and cooking low and slow in a savory sauce.

Valerie Bertinelli’s beef braciole is a flavorful feast

The former One Day at a Time star’s recipe comes together with breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan cheese, fresh parsley and basil, extra-virgin olive oil, fresh garlic cloves, prosciutto slices, red wine such as Pinot noir, canned crushed tomatoes, crushed red pepper flakes, and beef top sirloin steaks, cut into twelve 1/4-inch-thick slices, and pounded “as thin as possible.” Toothpicks will also be needed for the recipe, in order to keep the beef “packages” together.

Bertinelli’s braciole is a beloved Italian dish, and it’s not surprising the culinary host is sharing her version of the classic meal, given her Italian roots on her father’s side.

She wrote in her cookbook, Valerie’s Home Cooking, “My mother’s specialty was Italian food, even though she’s of English-Irish descent and raised in New Jersey. She learned to cook from the women in my father’s family. When I was a kid, she made a mean lasagna, and the rich, creamy goodness of her risotto still races to the forefront of my mind when I think of perfection at the end of a fork.”

Her meaty recipe is the ultimate Italian comfort dish

Bertinelli starts the recipe by combining the breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, and ground black pepper in a bowl. She mixes in olive oil and grated fresh garlic until it “resembles wet sand.”

Next, she begins assembling the braciole by topping each thin beef cutlet with the prosciutto, “folding if necessary” to fit it to the beef, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Bertinelli recommends pressing the breadcrumbs down to “compact” it. Fold up the beef “like a jelly roll” and secure with two toothpicks.

She repeats this with all of the beef, prosciutto, and the rest of the breadcrumb mix and seasons all of the rolled-up beef packets with salt and pepper.

Bertinelli then heats olive oil in a “large, high-sided pan” and browns the beef bundles in batches, returning them to a baking dish.

This is where the flavorful sauce comes in: red wine is stirred into the pan the beef was browned in, followed by the tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and garlic cloves. She simmers the sauce, then returns the rolls to the pan. Bertinelli then covers the pan and cooks the beef on low, “until the meat is very tender,” for about two hours. 

Her recipe notes remind home cooks to serve this dish with more sauce and a dusting of Parmesan cheese but — don’t forget to remove the toothpicks first.

Get the complete recipe and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Reviewers were impressed with Bertinelli’s braciole

Home cooks chiming in on Food Network’s site praised Bertinelli’s braciole recipe and its similarity to the comfort-food dish made by their own families.

“This is just like we have been making it for generations. We are also Italian,” one of the many five-star raters wrote.

Another person remarked that Bertinelli’s dish is very authentic, “very similar to my mother’s.” 

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