• Salt and pepper
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ c. dried Italian or flavored breadcrumbs
  • 2/3 c. Parmesan cheese
  • 8 slices of Provolone cheese
  • Fresh spinach leaves
  • 4 tbsp. olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 1/2 - 2 lb. Flank steak
  • 1 c. good quality dry white wine
  • 3 c. of My Grandmother’s Spaghetti Sauce, or your favorite jarred spaghetti sauce (see below)
  • Butcher’s twine

Flank steak filled rubbed with fresh parsley and garlic, filled with fresh spinach leaves, freshly grated Parmesan cheese, and breadcrumbs is simmered in an Italian gravy. This has been our family’s Christmas dinner for the last seven years.  You don’t have to wait for Christmas or another holiday to prepare this amazing dish though. It is super easy and versatile. No time to make your own sauce? Simply purchase your favorite marinara sauce. Jsut be sure it is a good quality sauce.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine your chopped parsley and garlic in a bowl.

Lay your flank steak flat on plastic cutting board and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Press your parsley/garlic mixture into the meat.

 

Lay a few spinach leaves on top of your flank steak and sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs.

Lay a few pieces of Provolone cheese.

Roll the flank steak up and tie with butcher’s twine.

Your butcher will be happy to give you some butchers twine at no cost. if your butcher has a sense of humor like mine does, he will say, “Mrs. Johnson, this should be plenty of twine to tie up your stuffed flank steak and your husband.” Oh yes he did!

Heat up an oven safe pan on the stove. Brown all sides of the steak in olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.If you do not have an oven safe pan, simply use a large saute pan and transfer your steak to a baking dish.

Once steaks are browned, add wine and marinara sauce. Cover and bake steaks for 1 hour or until your meat is nice and tender.

Doesn’t’ that look g-o-o-d?

You can also cook this on top of the stove covered but be sure to keep it at a low simmer, checking it regualrly to make sure it’s not burning.

Vavo’s Spaghetti Sauce

My grandmother’s sauce, what can I say? To me it’s the best sauce in the world. You can use your favorite marinara sauce as well.

3 tbsp. Portuguese, extra-virgin or Spanish olive oil
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (28 oz can) crushed tomatoes
1 (14 oz can) stewed tomatoes, broken up with your fingers
1 (6 oz can) tomato paste
2 bay leaves
Garlic and onion powder (my grandmother would put it in so that it looks like she’d dusted the top of the sauce with it)
2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasonings
Sugar, just a pinch to round out the flavors (lots of acidity from the tomatoes)

In a large skillet or Dutch oven, saute the onion, green pepper in olive oil until softened. Add garlic and cook a minute more. Add remaining ingredients and let simmer for at least one hour.

We love serving our sour cream dill mashed potatoes and roasted Brussels spouts with this.

Enjoy!