Mario Batali's Veal Involtini stuffed with parsley, pine nuts, and parmigiano-reggiano
We haven’t had a barbecue in 5 years. It’s a real sore spot – we don’t have a back yard, and the rules of our condo association forbid barbecues on the balcony. We were sure we could change or bend this rule by wooing our neighbours with chutneys and wines, but they are unequivocal. I guess they’re afraid we’ll be grilling sardines at 11 a.m. on Saturday mornings, because that sort of thing tends to happen in Portuguese neighbourhoods like ours. In fact I distinctly remember seeing a whole goat on a spit just a few blocks from here, last summer.
Our consolation prize is an indoor grill. It doesn’t get hot enough to do an inch-and-a-half porterhouse, and of course there’s no charcoal flavour, but it does a great job on small-scale things like skewers of marinated shrimp or lamb chops. And it’s great fun to stand by the grill in the dead of winter, tongs in hand, and fire things up for friends. There is the small problem of smoke. There’s a downdraft vent beside the grill, and we also recently installed a hood, but the smoke detector is likely to go off before the chops are done.
Beef and asparagus negimaki
To inaugurate the new oven hood, we’ve been grilling everything we can think of. We especially like how octopus seem to come to life for a moment as they hit the grill, curling their arms around the hot grates, heroically embracing their delicious fate. The two recipes here are remarkably easy to make, and both can be done under a hot broiler.
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Beef Negimaki by Martha Stewart
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Involtini alla Siciliana from ‘molto italiano’ by mario batali
8 slices veal top round
about 4 oz each
1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
1/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped italian parsley
1/4 cup pine nuts – toasted
1/4 cup dried currants soaked in warm water 1 hour, then drained
8 sprigs of woody rosemary about 5 inches long
salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil
Preheat the grill. Using a mallet, pound each slice of veal between 2 oiled pieces of tin foil to 1/16″, careful not to tear the meat . Lay each piece out on a work surface. In a medium bowl, stir together the parmigiano-reggiano, bread crumbs, parsley, pine nuts and currants. (Batali uses pecorino romano, but we have a thing about sheep’s milk.)
Season the meat and divide the mixture among the veal, spreading it out thinly. Roll each piece up tightly, starting from a short side and secure with toothpicks. Lay 2 veal rolls side by side, about 1/2″ apart and skewer with the rosemary. Repeat to make 3 more sets of veal. Season with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil.
Grill, turning once for 3 to 4 minutes a side until nicely charred but still medium . Serve immediately with a green salad.
(We actually just speared these individually with rosemary sprigs instead of toothpicks and grilled ‘em individually, not in pairs as Batali recommends. Works fine.)
Deeelicious!! Thanks for the wonderful evening. It was awesome to have you both all to myself. Lovexxx
If I were making this, I would have a hard time not eating all the stuffing on its own: parmigiano-reggiano, bread crumbs, parsley, pine nuts, and currants, yum yum!
Victor, you’re the only person I know who can credibly claim to love bread crumbs. And what are you doing with those 10 pounds of butter exactly?
This looks so delicious!
All the ingredients in it look great– and good idea to make this with pine nuts!
I’ve been looking around online for these so I can make the same recipe
Really like your blog
thanks!!
I will *definitely* be trying this.
@Tina- I normally get my Pine Nuts from NutsOnline– I’ve looked a fair bit and they seem to consistently have the best prices.
Lovely blog and post– all looks really tasty!
~Sally