Braciole

Braciole is a stuffed protein roll braised in tomato sauce.

For the write up, visit Weekly Vegan Menu.

There are three components to this dish:

The Stuffing

The Tomato Sauce

The Seitan

The Tomato sauce and the Stuffing both need onions and garlic, so cut 2 large onions and mince four cloves of garlic.

The Stuffing

Heat the oil in a large pot.

Add the diced large onion and two cloves of garlic.

After about 6-8 minutes when the onions are nice and golden, add a bunch of cut spinach and turn off the heat.

In the meantime, remove the crust off of the stale bread and cut into large chunks.

Soak the bread in a cup of nondairy milk until the milk is soaked up. 

With your hands crush the bread cubes into crumbs as best as you can. The soften bread should be easy to crush.

Add the bread crumbs to the pot with the spinach.

Prepare the rest of the ingredients, including grating the Follow Your Heart cheese.

Mix all the cheeses, Daiya, Follow Your Heart, Parma! and the pine nuts.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Tomato Sauce

Prepare another large pot. Heat the oil and add the diced large onion and two cloves of garlic. Cook 6-8 minutes until the onion is golden brown.

Add four tablespoons of tomato paste and cook the paste until it turns a darker red. 

Add a cup of red wine and cook for 3-4 minutes to evaporate the alcohol.

Add 2 cups of water. 

Add a bottle (24 oz) of tomatoes, strained or pass the whole tomatoes through a food mill to remove the seeds.

Simmer the sauce for a few minutes and remove from the heat. The sauce will thicken during braising.

Make sure to season with salt.

The Seitan

Prepare the ingredients for the Firm Seitan. Put the wet ingredients in the bottom of a bread maker and then add the dry ingredients. Put the machine on 'Dough' cycle.

Here is how it will look when it is done kneading.

Put the gluten on your board.

Cut a piece off.

Begin to smooth the gluten out, trying to smooth in only one direction - either up and down OR left and right.

If the dough has a hole in it or develops holes because of the stretching, fold it in half and continue to smooth it.

When the gluten is thin and big...

Put about a 1/2 c of stuffing into the middle. Use less if the filling is falling out.

Begin to roll it up, stretching and tucking as you go, trying to make sure all of the stuffing is safely tucked in.

You can use toothpicks to secure the gluten, but you shouldn't need it.

To sear the gluten heat some oil in the pan you will be braising in.  

Put enough pieces into the pan to sear but not to touch, otherwise they will stick together.

Even with the oil the gluten pieces might stick to the pan. Just use a wooden spatula to gently move them and make sure to sear them on all sides.

Remove them to a plate when they are seared until you are ready to return them all back to the pot.

Pour the tomato sauce over the gluten, cover and ...

Bake on 325 for 2 hours or 300 for 2.5 hours. The cooler temp is to help the seitan not have a 'setian-y' flavor - an aftertaste.

After it is braised you can see how the tomato sauce has thickened.

And the final view...